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SY0-501 · Question #25

An organization is using a tool to perform a source code review. Which of the following describes the case in which the tool incorrectly identifies the vulnerability?

The correct answer is C. False positive. A false positive occurs when a security tool incorrectly flags a benign item as a vulnerability, leading to a misidentification.

Submitted by kwame.gh· Mar 4, 2026Security operations

Question

An organization is using a tool to perform a source code review. Which of the following describes the case in which the tool incorrectly identifies the vulnerability?

Options

  • AFalse negative
  • BTrue negative
  • CFalse positive
  • DTrue positive

How the community answered

(40 responses)
  • A
    5% (2)
  • B
    3% (1)
  • C
    83% (33)
  • D
    10% (4)

Why each option

A false positive occurs when a security tool incorrectly flags a benign item as a vulnerability, leading to a misidentification.

AFalse negative

A false negative occurs when a security tool fails to detect an actual vulnerability that is present, missing a real threat.

BTrue negative

A true negative occurs when a security tool correctly determines that no vulnerability exists in a section of code where none is present.

CFalse positiveCorrect

A false positive describes an outcome where a security tool reports the presence of a vulnerability (a 'positive' detection), but upon further investigation, no actual vulnerability exists, meaning the detection was 'false'. In the context of a source code review tool, this means the tool identified a problem that isn't truly there.

DTrue positive

A true positive occurs when a security tool correctly identifies an actual vulnerability that is present in the source code.

Concept tested: Security tool alert classification (False Positive)

Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/security/defender-endpoint/manage-false-positives-negatives

Topics

#false positive#static analysis#vulnerability scanning#code review

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