NSE5_SSE_AD-7.6 Fortinet NSE 5 - FortiSASE and SD-WAN 7.6 Core Administrator Questions and Answers

According to theFortiSASE 7.6 Administration Guideand theFCP - FortiSASE 24/25 Administratortraining materials, the security dashboard is a centralized hub for monitoring and remediating security risks across the entire fleet of managed endpoints.

Vulnerability Summary: The dashboard includes a dedicatedVulnerability summary widgetthat categorizes risks by severity (Critical, High, Medium, Low) and by application type (OS, Web Client, etc.).

Identifying Affected Endpoints: The dashboard is fully interactive; an administrator candrill downinto specific vulnerability categories to view a detailed list ofCVE dataand, most importantly, identify the specificaffected endpointsthat require attention.

Automatic Patching: FortiSASE supportsautomatic patching for eligible vulnerabilities(such as common third-party applications and supported OS updates). This feature is configured within theEndpoint Profile, allowing the FortiClient agent to remediate risks without requiring the user to manually run updates.

Why other options are incorrect:

Option A: While it supports automatic patching, it does not do so forallvulnerabilities (only eligible/supported ones), and it specificallydoescategorize them by severity.

Option B: The dashboard shows vulnerabilities for theOperating Systemas well as applications, and it allows theadministratorto identify affected endpoints rather than requiring the end-user to check.

Option C: The dashboard displaysall levels of severity(not just critical) and explicitly allows the viewing of affected endpoints.

According to theFortiSASE 7.6 Feature Administration Guide, steering bypass destinations (also known as split tunneling) allow administrators to optimize bandwidth by redirecting specific trusted traffic away from the SASE tunnel to the endpoint's local physical interface.

Destination Types (Option C): When creating a bypass destination, administrators can select from four distinct types:Infrastructure(pre-defined apps like Zoom/O365),FQDN(specific domains),Local Application(identifying processes on the laptop), orSubnet(specific IP ranges).

Apply Condition (Option B): The "Apply" condition is a flexible setting that allows the administrator to choose when the bypass is active. It can be applied to endpoints that areOn-net(inside the office),Off-net(remote), orBoth. This ensures that if a user is in the office, they don't use the SASE tunnel for local resources, but if they are home, they might still bypass high-bandwidth sites like YouTube to preserve tunnel capacity.

Why other options are incorrect:

Option A: Subnet is one of four types and is not the only type supporting these conditions.

Option D: The system explicitly supports "Both" to ensure consistency across network transitions.

Based on theFortiSASE 7.6 (and later 2025 versions)curriculum and administration guides, the Vulnerability summary dashboard is a key component of the endpoint security posture management.

Drill Down Capability (Option C): According to theFortiSASE Administration Guide, the Vulnerability summary widget on the Security dashboard is interactive. An administrator can click on specific risk categories (e.g., Critical, High) or application types (e.g., Operating System, Web Client) todrill down. This action opens a detailed pane showing the specific affected endpoints, associatedCVE identifiers, and severity classifications based on the CVSS standard.

Automatic Vulnerability Patching (Option D): In theFortiSASE 7.6/2025feature sets, the endpoint profile configuration (underEndpoint > Configuration > Profiles) includes an "Automatic Patching" section. This feature allows the system to automatically install security updates for supported third-party applications and the underlying operating system (Windows/macOS) when vulnerabilities are detected. Furthermore, administrators can schedule these patches directly from theVulnerability Summarywidget by selecting specific vulnerabilities.

Why other options are incorrect:

Option A: The dashboard categories (Operating System, Web Client, Microsoft Office, etc.) are based on known software signatures. While there is an "Other" category, the dashboard primarily provides scores for recognized applications where CVE data is available.

Option B: The exhibit shows active data (157 total vulnerabilities), which indicates that thevulnerability scan is enabledand currently reporting data from the endpoints. If it were disabled, the widget would be empty or show zeros.

According to theSD-WAN 7.6 Core Administratorstudy guide and theFortiOS 7.6 Administration Guide, configuring load balancing within SD-WAN rules requires an understanding of how the engine selects and distributes sessions across multiple links.

SLA Target Logic (Option A): In FortiOS 7.6, theLowest Cost (SLA)strategy has been enhanced. When the load-balance option is enabled for this strategy, the FortiGate does not just pick a single "best" link; it identifiesall member interfaces that currently meet the configured SLA target(e.g., latency < 100ms). It then load balances the traffic across all those healthy links to maximize resource utilization.

Hash Modes (Option D): When an SD-WAN rule is configured for load balancing (valid forManualandLowest Cost (SLA)strategies in 7.6), the administrator must define ahash modeto determine how sessions are distributed. While "outsessions" in the question is a common exam-variant typo foroutbandwidth(or sessions-based hashing), the core principle remains: you can select the specific load-balancing algorithm (e.g., source-ip, round-robin, or bandwidth-based) forall strategieswhere load-balancing is enabled.

Why other options are incorrect:

Option B and C: These options are too restrictive. InFortiOS 7.6, load balancing is not limited to only "manual and best quality" or "manual and lowest cost" in a singular way. The documentation highlights thatManualandLowest Cost (SLA)are the primary strategies that support the explicit load-balance toggle to steer traffic through multiple healthy members simultaneously.

According to the SD-WAN 7.6 Core Administrator curriculum and the provided exhibits, the traffic steering decision is determined by the interaction between the Lowest Cost (SLA) strategy and the link health status reported in the event logs.

Rule Strategy (Lowest Cost SLA): The SD-WAN rule configuration for ID 1 (named Critical-DIA) is set to mode sla. In this mode, the FortiGate will only steer traffic through member interfaces that satisfy the assigned Performance SLA targets.

Member Preference: The rule defines priority-members 1 2. This means that under normal conditions (where both links are healthy), Member 1 (port1) is the preferred interface because it is listed first.

Event Log Analysis:

The first log message explicitly states: "Member status changed. Member out-of-sla." for Member 1. This indicates that port1 has exceeded one of the thresholds (latency, jitter, or packet loss) defined in the Corp_HC health check.

The second log confirms: "Number of pass member changed. New Value: 1, Old Value: 2". This verifies that while there were previously two links passing the SLA, now only one link (Member 2/port2) remains in a passing state.

Steering Decision: Because the rule strategy is mode sla and the primary preferred member (port1) is now out-of-sla, the FortiGate immediately disqualifies Member 1 from the selection pool for this specific rule. It then moves to the next available member in the priority list that does satisfy the SLA, which is Member 2 (port2).

Why other options are incorrect:

Option A: FortiGate will not load balance or choose between both links because port1 is currently ineligible due to the SLA failure.

Option B: Steering to port1 would violate the "Lowest Cost (SLA)" rule logic, as that link is no longer meeting the required health standards.

Option D: FortiGate does not "skip" the rule unless no members meet the SLA and there is no fallback configured; in this scenario, port2 is still passing and available.

According to theFortiSASE 7.6 Administration GuideandFCP - FortiSASE 24/25 Administratorcurriculum, security posture tags (often referred to as ZTNA tags) are the fundamental building blocks for identity-based and posture-based access control.

Multiple Tag Assignment: A single endpoint can be assigned multiple tags at the same time. For example, an endpoint might simultaneously have the tags"OS-Windows-11","AV-Running", and"Corporate-Domain-Joined".

Evaluation Logic: During the policy evaluation process (for both SIA and SPA), FortiSASE or the FortiGate hub considers all tags assigned to the endpoint. Security policies can be configured to use these tags as source criteria. If an administrator defines a policy that requires both "AV-Running" and "Corporate-Domain-Joined," the system evaluates both tags to decide whether to permit the traffic.

Dynamic Nature: Contrary to Option C, these tags are highly dynamic. They are automatically applied or removed in real-time based on the telemetry data sent by theFortiClientto the SASE cloud. If a user disables their antivirus, the "AV-Running" tag is removed immediately, and the endpoint's access is revoked by the next policy evaluation.

Scalability: While the system supports many tags, documentation recommends a baseline of custom tags for optimal performance, though it confirms that multiple tags are standard for reflecting a comprehensive security posture.

Why other options are incorrect:

Option A: This is incorrect because the system does not pick just one tag; it evaluates the collection of tags against the policy's requirements (e.g., matching any or matching all).

Option C: This is incorrect because tags are dynamic and change as soon as the endpoint's status (like vulnerability count or software presence) changes.

Option D: This is incorrect because the architectural advantage of ZTNA is the ability to layer multiple security "checks" (tags) for a single user.

TheFortiSASE 7.6 Administration Guideoutlines the standard onboarding procedures for deploying theFortiClientagent to remote endpoints. There are two primary user-facing delivery methods:

Download from the FortiSASE portal (Option B):Administrators can provide users with access to the FortiSASE portal where they can directly download apre-configured installer. This installer is uniquely tied to the organization’s SASE instance, ensuring the client automatically registers to the correct cloud EMS upon installation.

Invitation Email (Option C):This is the most common administrative method. The FortiSASE portal (via its integrated EMS) allows administrators to send an invitation email to specific users or groups. This email contains direct download links for various operating systems (Windows, macOS, Linux) and the necessary invitation code for zero-touch registration.

Why other options are incorrect:

Option A:While third-party stores (like the App Store or Google Play) are used for mobile devices, "zero-touch installation through a third-party store" is not the standard curriculum-defined method forlaptops(Windows/macOS) in a SASE environment.

Option D:FortiSASE does not use a direct "API to the user's laptop" for automatic installation. While MDM/GPO (centralized deployment) is supported, it is not described as an API-based auto-installation in the core curriculum.