Ping Identity PAP-001 Certified Professional - PingAccess Exam Practice Test

PingAccess allows fine-grained authentication enforcement by applyingAuthentication Requirement rulesat the resource level. These rules can invoke MFA flows based on request context or policy.

Exact Extract:

“Authentication requirement rules determine whether PingAccess challenges a user to authenticate again (for example, with MFA) before allowing access to a protected resource.”

Option Ais incomplete. Creating a requirement does nothing unless it is applied.

Option Bis correct because applying the Authentication Requirement rule to thespecific resource (URL)enforces MFA only for that resource.

Option Cis incorrect; Web Session Attribute rules are about evaluating existing session attributes, not triggering MFA.

Option Dis incorrect; HTTP Request Parameter rules are used to evaluate request data, not enforce MFA policies.

When usingHTTP Basic Authentication(admin.auth=native), PingAccess only supports asingle administrative account(the default admin user). For multiple administrators, SSO integration (e.g., OIDC) is required.

Exact Extract:

“When admin authentication is set to native (HTTP Basic), only one administrative user is supported. For multiple admins, configure UI authentication with an OIDC provider.”

Option A (1000)is incorrect.

Option B (1)is correct — only one basic auth admin account.

Option C (10)andOption D (100)are incorrect.

All onboarding in PingAccess begins with defining anApplication. Once the application exists, the administrator can defineResourceswithin it and assign different rules to those resources.

Exact Extract:

“Before you can configure resources and rules, you must first create an application in PingAccess.”

Option A (Identity Mapping)may be required later but not the first step.

Option B (Web Session)can be shared but is not the first onboarding step.

Option C (Application)is correct — the starting point for onboarding.

Option D (Resource)comes after creating the application.

When applications depend solely onheader-based identity mapping, attackers can attempt to bypass PingAccess by injecting headers directly into requests sent to the backend. To prevent spoofing, PingAccess should be configured to passcryptographically verifiable tokens(e.g.,ID tokens from OIDC) instead of relying on plain headers.

Exact Extract:

“Headers can be spoofed if not protected. Use signed tokens, such as ID tokens or JWTs, to provide strong identity assurance and prevent header injection attacks.”

Option A (Use ID Tokens)is correct — ID tokens are signed and verifiable, preventing spoofing.

Option B (Add Site Authenticator)protects PingAccess-to-site authentication, not client-to-API spoofing.

Option C (Require HTTPS)prevents eavesdropping but does not stop header spoofing from inside the network.

Option D (Use Target Host Header)ensures host header integrity but not user identity.

Legacy PKIs often provide certificate chains that areout of orderor non-compliant with RFC-5280 path validation. PingAccess provides an option in Trusted Certificate Groups calledValidate disordered certificate chainsto allow chaining even if the order is not RFC-5280 compliant.

Exact Extract:

“EnableValidate disordered certificate chainswhen the certificate chain is not in RFC-5280 compliant order but should still be accepted.”

Option Ais incorrect; using the Java trust store is unrelated to PKI ordering.

Option Bis correct — this setting allows PingAccess to process disordered certificate chains.

Option Cis incorrect; date checks are unrelated to RFC-5280 path ordering.

Option Dis incorrect; revocation status handling does not address legacy PKI ordering issues.

Because the application context root is/parts, resource paths are defined relative to it. The correct relative path is:

/suspension/struts/manufacturer

Exact Extract:

“Resource matching begins at the context root. The most specific matching path is selected.”

Option Ais incorrect —/*/struts/manufacturerdoes not match because it starts with a wildcard, not the defined path.

Option Bis incorrect —/*/manufacturerwould match less specifically and at a different depth.

Option Cis correct — exact match relative to/parts.

Option Dis incorrect — too generic and not the best match.

Identity Mapping in PingAccess relies on attributes provided by thetoken provider(e.g., PingFederate, OIDC provider). If the desired attributes are not present in the dropdown, it means they are not being provided in the token or userinfo response.

Exact Extract:

“Attributes available in identity mappings are those provided in the web session by the token provider. If attributes are missing, they must be added to the token by the identity provider.”

Option Ais correct — the token provider administrator must configure the IdP to include the additional attributes.

Option Bis incorrect — rewrite rules modify content but do not supply new identity attributes.

Option Cis incorrect — developers cannot directly add identity attributes; they must come from the IdP.

Option Dis incorrect — Web Session Attribute rules only evaluate available attributes; they don’t create new ones.

PingAccess officially supportsGoogle ChromeandMicrosoft Edgefor the administrative console. Other browsers (Safari, Opera, Brave) may work but are not officially supported.

Exact Extract:

“The PingAccess administrative console is supported on current versions of Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.”

Option A (Safari)is not officially supported.

Option B (Opera)is not supported.

Option C (Google Chrome)is correct.

Option D (Microsoft Edge)is correct.

Option E (Brave)is not officially supported.

PingAccess supports flexible path matching for resources using wildcards. If the requirement is to matchany path that contains a folder named "escalated", the correct format is:

*/escalated/→ matchesany locationof theescalateddirectory within the path.

Exact Extract:

“The asterisk (*) wildcard matches zero or more characters. Use it in resource paths to match folders at any depth.”

Option A (escalated/)only matches when the resource starts with “escalated/” at the root, not at arbitrary depth.

Option B (*/escalated/)is correct — it matches theescalatedfolder no matter where it occurs.

Option C (*/escalated/+ )is incorrect —+is not a valid PingAccess wildcard operator.

*Option D (/escalated/)matches only when the path starts with “escalated” at the first level, not arbitrary positions.

Processing Rulesin PingAccess apply transformations to HTTP traffic (requests or responses) in real time, such as modifying headers, handling CORS, or rewriting cookies.

Exact Extract:

“Processing rules allow PingAccess to modify HTTP requests and responses in real time, such as adding headers or enabling cross-origin requests.”

Option Ais incorrect — they are not for offline data collection.

Option Bis correct — their purpose is real-time modification of web traffic.

Option Cis incorrect — access control rules enforce or override authorization, not processing rules.

Option Dis incorrect — auditing is handled in log configurations, not processing rules.

When using multiple Access Token Managers, theSend Audienceoption ensures that tokens are scoped properly and validated against the intended resource/application.

Exact Extract:

“EnableSend Audiencein the token provider configuration to support environments with multiple Access Token Managers and enforce correct audience restrictions.”

Option A (Subject Attribute Name)is unrelated — it maps user identity but not token manager selection.

Option B (Send Audience)is correct — required when multiple ATMs are in use.

Option C (Use Token Introspection Endpoint)is optional and depends on deployment, not mandatory for multiple ATMs.

Option D (Client Secret)is part of OAuth client credentials, not specific to multiple ATMs.

When APIs are remote, latency is introduced by frequent token validation requests. EnablingCache Tokenon the OAuth Resource Server reduces repeated validation calls and improves performance.

Exact Extract:

“The OAuth Resource Server configuration includes aCache Tokenoption that improves performance by reducing round trips for token validation.”

Option Ais incorrect — key rolling affects cryptographic keys, not API latency.

Option Bis incorrect — virtual hosts control external FQDNs, not performance.

Option Cis incorrect — token attribute size does not significantly affect remote latency.

Option Dis correct — caching tokens reduces validation overhead.

The pattern/images/sitel/*matches all subpaths and files under the/images/sitel/directory, including nested paths.

Exact Extract:

“The asterisk (*) matches zero or more characters within the path. For example,/images/sitel/*matches all resources under thesitelfolder.”

Option Ais incorrect — it references/aitel/instead of/sitel/.

Option Bis incorrect —/site*matches strings beginning with “site”, but may also match “siteX” incorrectly.

Option Cis incorrect — it only matches resources under/english/, missing other folders.

Option Dis correct —/images/sitel/*covers all given examples.

When upgrading a PingAccess cluster, theAdmin Console node must always be upgraded firstbefore any replica admin or engine nodes. This ensures that the configuration and schema changes introduced in the new version are properly applied and replicated.

Exact Extract (from PingAccess documentation):

“In a clustered environment, you must first upgrade theadministrative console nodebefore upgrading any replica administrative nodes or engine nodes.”

Why A is correct:

A. Upgrade the Admin Console— This is correct because the admin console node acts as the configuration master in a PingAccess cluster. Upgrading it first ensures the new version schema is available to replicas and engines.

Why the other options are incorrect:

B. Disable cluster communication— This is not required for standard upgrades. Cluster communication remains in place to synchronize changes after the upgrade.

C. Disable Key Rolling— Key rolling is unrelated to the upgrade process. It is a feature used for key rotation, not version upgrades.

D. Upgrade the Replica Admin— This is incorrect because upgrading a replica admin before the primary administrative console is against the documented procedure and would cause replication issues.

PingAccess service scripts depend on knowing:

Where the Java runtime is installed (JAVA_HOME)

Where PingAccess itself is installed (PA_HOME)

Exact Extract:

“The PingAccess startup scripts require theJAVA_HOMEenvironment variable to locate the JDK/JRE and thePA_HOMEvariable to locate the PingAccess installation directory.”

Option A (J2EE_HOME)is irrelevant to PingAccess.

Option B (JAVA_HOME)is correct — needed for Java execution.

Option C (PA_PATH)is not a standard variable.

Option D (PA_HOME)is correct — required to point to the PingAccess installation root.

Option E (JAVA_PATH)is not valid;PATHcan include Java, butJAVA_HOMEis the correct environment variable.

Thepa.operational.modeproperty inrun.propertiesdefines therole of the nodein a PingAccess deployment (e.g.,STANDALONE,CLUSTERED_CONSOLE,CLUSTERED_CONSOLE_REPLICA,ENGINE).

Exact Extract:

“Thepa.operational.modeproperty determines the role of the server in the cluster, such as standalone, console, console replica, or engine.”

Option Ais incorrect — replication is implicit in certain roles, not controlled directly.

Option Bis correct — the setting specifies whether the node is admin console, replica, or engine.

Option Cis incorrect — development vs production is not a function of this setting.

Option Dis incorrect — it does not enable/disable nodes.

PingAccess enforces step-up or multi-factor authentication usingAuthentication Requirements, which can be applied to specific resources within an application.

Exact Extract:

“Authentication requirements allow administrators to configure additional authentication (for example, MFA) when accessing sensitive application resources.”

Option A (UI Authentication)applies to access to theadmin console, not application resources.

Option B (Auth Token Management)relates to OAuth token lifetimes and refresh, not MFA enforcement.

Option C (Authentication Requirements)is correct — these rules enforce MFA or step-up auth for specific URLs/resources.

Option D (Authentication Challenge Policy)governs how failed auth challenges are presented but does not enforce MFA.

Virtual Hostsin PingAccess define the external FQDNs (and ports) through which applications are accessed. An application can be bound to multiple virtual hosts to allow access via multiple FQDNs.

Exact Extract:

“A virtual host specifies the fully qualified domain name and port number through which an application is accessed.”

Option A (Virtual Hosts)is correct — multiple FQDNs can be supported by assigning multiple virtual hosts.

Option B (Applications)define resource protection but do not manage FQDN binding.

Option C (Sites)define back-end targets, not the public-facing FQDN.

Option D (Web Sessions)handle authentication state, unrelated to hostnames.

When PingAccess is first installed, theAdministrative Console(the web-based UI for managing configuration) is bound to adefault port of 9000. This is documented in the installation and configuration guides:

Exact Extract from documentation:

“By default, the administrative console is available at :9000.”

(PingAccess Installation Guide – Default Ports)

This means that unless the administrator has explicitly changed the port inrun.propertiesor during installation, the console will always be available onport 9000.

Option Analysis:

A. 9000✅Correct. Default administrative console port.

B. 3000❌Incorrect. This is not a PingAccess default port.

C. 9090❌Incorrect. Sometimes used by other Ping products for APIs, but not the PingAccess admin console.

D. 3030❌Incorrect. Not a default PingAccess port.

Step-up authentication in PingAccess is enforced throughAuthentication Requirement Rules. If users are not prompted, the likely issues are:

The rule is missing from the application/resource.

The rule’s minimum authentication context does not include MFA.

Exact Extract:

“Authentication requirement rules determine whether PingAccess will challenge a user with additional authentication (such as MFA). Ensure that the rule is applied to the resource and that the authentication context is set correctly.”

Option Ais incorrect — rejection handlers define error handling, not MFA enforcement.

Option Bis correct — verify the authentication requirement rule is applied.

Option Cis correct — ensure the rule contains the right MFA requirements.

Option Dis incorrect — identity mappings do not enforce step-up authentication.

Option Eis incorrect — token validation rules check validity, not MFA levels.

PingAccess retains backup archives of its configuration in thedata/archivedirectory. The number of retained backups is controlled in therun.propertiesfile.

Exact Extract:

“The number of configuration backups retained in thedata/archivedirectory is controlled by thearchive.maxCountproperty inrun.properties.”

Option A (log4j2.db.properties)is incorrect; this file controls database logging, not archive retention.

Option B (jvm-memory.options)is incorrect; this file sets JVM heap and memory arguments.

Option C (run.properties)is correct — it contains system-level settings includingarchive.maxCount.

Option D (log4j2.xml)is incorrect; this file configures log appenders and levels, not archive backups.