Secure Software Design (D487)
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Free Secure Software Design (D487) Questions
Which secure coding best practice says to use well-vetted algorithms to ensure that the application uses random identifiers, that identifiers are appropriately restricted to the processes, and are fully terminated on logout
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Access control
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Output encoding
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Session management
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Input validation
Explanation
Correct Answer:
c) Session management
Explanation:
Session management best practices ensure that session identifiers are generated using well-vetted algorithms, preventing attackers from guessing or predicting session IDs. It also ensures that identifiers are appropriately restricted to specific processes and are terminated properly during logout to prevent session hijacking or fixation attacks.
Why other options are wrong:
a) Access control: Access control focuses on managing and restricting user permissions to prevent unauthorized access to resources, but it doesn't deal with the management of session identifiers.
b) Output encoding: This practice ensures that data is safely encoded for output to prevent injection attacks like XSS (Cross-Site Scripting), but it doesn't address session management or identifier security.
d) Input validation: Input validation ensures that inputs are safe and properly formatted, preventing malicious input from affecting the system, but it doesn't directly address session handling or the secure management of session identifiers.
Using a web-based common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) calculator, a security response team member performed an assessment on a reported vulnerability in the user authentication component of the company's new product. The base score of the vulnerability was 8.3 and changed to 9.4 after adjusting temporal and environmental metrics. Which rating would CVSS assign this vulnerability?
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Low severity
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Medium severity
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High severity
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Critical severity
Explanation
Explanation:
Correct answer: Critical severity
CVSS severity ratings are based on the final (adjusted) score, not just the base score. A score of 9.4 falls in the Critical range (9.0–10.0). This indicates an extremely severe vulnerability that requires immediate attention due to its high potential impact and exploitability, especially in a user authentication component.
What are the eight phases of the software development lifecycle (SDLC)
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Gather requirements, prototype, perform threat modeling, write code, test, user acceptance testing, deploy, maintain
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Planning, requirements, design, implementation, testing, deployment, maintenance, end of life
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Plan, gather requirements, identify attack surface, design, write code, perform code reviews, test, deploy
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Planning, security analysis, requirement analysis, design, implementation, threat mitigation, testing, maintenance
Explanation
Correct Answer:
b) Planning, requirements, design, implementation, testing, deployment, maintenance, end of life
Explanation:
The SDLC typically includes these eight phases: planning (initializing the project), gathering and analyzing requirements, designing the system, implementing or coding the system, testing the system, deploying the system, maintaining it, and eventually handling its end of life when it is retired or replaced.
Why other options are wrong:
a) The phases listed are not in the standard order for SDLC, and some (like "prototype" and "perform threat modeling") are more specific to particular types of SDLC approaches.
c) The phases here focus too much on security (e.g., "identify attack surface," "perform code reviews"), which is an important aspect but not part of every SDLC model.
d) This option includes terms like "security analysis" and "threat mitigation" that are more specific to secure development practices, not general SDLC.
The scrum team decided that before any change can be merged and tested, it must be looked at by the team’s lead developer, who will ensure accepted coding patterns are being followed and that the code meets the team’s quality standards. Which category of secure software best practices is the team performing?
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Code review
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Architecture analysis
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Training
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Penetration testing
Explanation
Explanation:
Correct answer: Code review
The scenario describes a process where code changes are reviewed by a lead developer before they are merged and tested. The purpose of this step is to ensure that coding standards are followed and that the code meets quality requirements. This is a code review, which is a secure software development practice used to identify defects early, enforce consistency, and improve overall code quality before integration. The other options do not apply because architecture analysis focuses on system design, training involves educating developers, and penetration testing involves actively testing a system for security vulnerabilities.
Credit card numbers are encrypted when stored in the database but are automatically decrypted when data is fetched. The testing tool intercepted the GET response, and testers were able to view credit card numbers as clear text. How should the organization remediate this vulnerability?
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Ensure all data in transit is encrypted
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Ensure there is an audit trail for all sensitive transactions
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Enforce role-based authorization controls in all application layers
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Never cache sensitive data
Explanation
Explanation:
Correct answer: Ensure all data in transit is encrypted
The vulnerability is that sensitive data (credit card numbers) is exposed in clear text during transmission or response handling, meaning it can be intercepted by tools like proxies or network sniffers. The primary control to prevent this is encrypting data in transit (e.g., HTTPS/TLS) so that even if the response is intercepted, the contents remain unreadable. The other options do not address the core issue: audit logs only track activity, role-based authorization controls access but does not protect data in transit, and caching is unrelated to interception during HTTP responses.
When are the three primary goals of the secure software development process?
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Performance, reliability, and maintainability
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Cost, speed to market, and profitability
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Confidentiality, integrity, and availability
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Redundancy, scalability, and portability
Explanation
Explanation
Correct answer: Confidentiality, integrity, and availability
The three primary goals of secure software development are known as the CIA triad: confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Confidentiality ensures that sensitive information is protected from unauthorized access. Integrity ensures that data remains accurate and unaltered except by authorized actions. Availability ensures that systems and data are accessible to authorized users when needed. These principles form the foundation of secure system design and guide security practices throughout the software development lifecycle.
Which security assessment deliverable identifies possible security vulnerabilities in the product?
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List of third party software
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Threat profile
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Metrics template
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Project outline
Explanation
Explanation:
Correct answer: Threat profile
A threat profile is a security assessment deliverable used to identify and describe potential security threats and vulnerabilities in a product or system. It focuses on analyzing how the system could be attacked and what weaknesses might be exploited, helping teams understand risk areas that need mitigation. The other options do not serve this purpose: a list of third-party software only catalogs external components, a metrics template is used for measurement and tracking, and a project outline describes planning structure rather than security weaknesses.
In which step of the PASTA threat modeling methodology will the team capture infrastructure, application, and software dependencies?
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Define objectives
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Risk and impact analysis
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Define technical scope
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Attack modeling
Explanation
Explanation:
Correct answer: Define technical scope
In the PASTA (Process for Attack Simulation and Threat Analysis) methodology, the step where the team identifies and documents system architecture details—including infrastructure components, applications, and software dependencies—is the Define technical scope phase. This stage focuses on understanding the technical environment that supports the application so that potential attack surfaces and dependencies can be properly identified. The other phases serve different purposes: defining objectives establishes business goals and security requirements, risk and impact analysis evaluates potential consequences, and attack modeling simulates possible attack paths.
Which threat modeling approach concentrates on things the organization wants to protect?
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Server-centric
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Application-centric
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Asset-centric
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Attacker-centric
Explanation
Explanation:
Correct answer: Asset-centric
An asset-centric threat modeling approach focuses on identifying and protecting the organization’s most valuable assets, such as sensitive data, intellectual property, systems, and critical resources. The goal is to understand what must be protected first and then analyze threats against those assets. This differs from server-centric (focused on infrastructure), application-centric (focused on application components), and attacker-centric (focused on attacker behavior and motivations).
A recent vulnerability scan uncovered an XML External Entity (XXE) flaw that could allow attackers to return the contents of a system file by including a specific payload in an XML request. How should the organization remediate this vulnerability?
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Enforce role-based authorization in all application layers
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Ensure authentication cookies are encrypted
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Ensure audit trails exist for all sensitive transactions
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Disable resolution of external entities in the parsing library
Explanation
Explanation:
Correct answer: Disable resolution of external entities in the parsing library
The issue described is an XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability, which occurs when an XML parser processes external entities that can reference sensitive local files or internal resources. The correct remediation is to disable external entity resolution in the XML parsing library, which prevents the parser from processing malicious external references altogether. The other options are unrelated: role-based authorization controls access after authentication, cookie encryption protects session data, and audit trails help with monitoring but do not prevent XXE exploitation.
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Frequently Asked Question
The course focuses on secure coding principles, software vulnerabilities, authentication mechanisms, cryptography, and best practices for designing secure applications.
Secure software design helps prevent cyber threats such as SQL Injection, Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), authentication bypasses, and data breaches, ensuring application security and compliance with industry standards.
The course covers vulnerabilities like SQL Injection, XSS, Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF), insecure authentication, weak cryptography, and improper error handling.
Using prepared statements and parameterized queries is the most effective method to prevent SQL Injection, as it ensures user input is treated strictly as data, not executable code.
XSS occurs when an attacker injects malicious scripts into web pages viewed by users. It can be prevented by sanitizing and encoding user input, using a Content Security Policy (CSP), and avoiding innerHTML in JavaScript.
MFA requires users to verify their identity using multiple factors (e.g., password + one-time code). It significantly enhances security by preventing unauthorized access, even if a password is compromised.
Authentication verifies a user’s identity (e.g., username and password). Authorization determines what actions or data a user is allowed to access after authentication.