CISA · Question #120
Which of the following is the MOST important consideration for patching mission critical business application servers against known vulnerabilities?
The correct answer is B. Patches are implemented in a test environment prior to rollout into production. For mission-critical servers, the most important consideration when patching is to first implement patches in a test environment, ensuring they don't cause disruptions before deployment to production.
Question
Which of the following is the MOST important consideration for patching mission critical business application servers against known vulnerabilities?
Options
- ANetwork vulnerability scans are conducted after patches are implemented.
- BPatches are implemented in a test environment prior to rollout into production.
- CVulnerability assessments are periodically conducted according to defined schedules.
- DRoles and responsibilities for implementing patches are defined.
How the community answered
(18 responses)- B94% (17)
- C6% (1)
Why each option
For mission-critical servers, the most important consideration when patching is to first implement patches in a test environment, ensuring they don't cause disruptions before deployment to production.
Conducting network vulnerability scans after patches are implemented is important to verify successful remediation but is secondary to ensuring the patch itself does not cause adverse effects.
Implementing patches in a test environment before deploying to production is crucial for mission-critical systems. This practice allows for thorough testing to ensure that patches do not introduce new vulnerabilities, break existing functionality, or cause unforeseen downtime, thereby minimizing the risk to business operations and system stability.
Periodically conducting vulnerability assessments is a good practice for identifying vulnerabilities but does not directly address the risk of implementing specific patches on critical systems.
Defining roles and responsibilities is essential for a structured patching process but does not directly mitigate the technical risk of a patch destabilizing a mission-critical system.
Concept tested: Patch management best practices for critical systems
Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/get-started/patching-servers-best-practices
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