CyberArk SECRET-SEN CyberArk Sentry - Secrets Manager Exam Practice Test

o enable synchronous replication on a Conjur cluster, you need to run the command evoke replication sync that on the Leader node of the cluster. This command will configure the Leader to wait for confirmation from all Standbys before committing any transaction to the database. This ensures that the data is consistent across all nodes and prevents data loss in case of a failover. However, this also increases the latency and reduces the throughput of the cluster, so it should be used with caution and only when required by the business or compliance needs.

References:

• Conjur Cluster Replication
• Sentry - Secrets Manager - Sample Items & Study Guide

This is the correct answer because the Conjur CLI is a tool that allows users to interact with the Conjur REST API from the command line. The Conjur CLI can be run on Windows, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and macOS operating systems, as well as in Docker containers. The Conjur CLI can be installed using various methods, such as downloading the executable file, using a package manager, or pulling the Docker image. The Conjur CLI supports Conjur Enterprise 12.9 or later versions. This answer is based on the CyberArk Secrets Manager documentation1 and the CyberArk Secrets Manager training course2.

The other options are not true statements for the Conjur CLI. The Conjur CLI can be run from any machine that has network access to the Conjur server, not only from the Conjur Leader node. The Conjur Leader node is the node that performs read/write operations on the Conjur database and policy engine, and hosts the Conjur UI and API endpoints. The Conjur CLI is not required for working with the Conjur REST API, as users can also use other tools, such as curl, Postman, or web browsers, to send HTTP requests to the Conjur REST API. The Conjur CLI does implement the Conjur REST API for managing Conjur resources, such as roles, policies, secrets, and audit records. The Conjur CLI provides a set of commands that correspond to the Conjur REST API endpoints and allow users to perform various operations on the Conjur resources.

Summon is a utility that allows applications to access secrets from a variety of trusted stores and export them as environment variables to a sub-process environment. Summon does not require any changes to the application code to retrieve secrets from the CyberArk Central Credential Provider (CCP), as it uses a provider plugin that handles the communication with the CCP. However, the application code must be able to access secrets from a configuration file or environment variable, as these are the methods that Summon uses to inject secrets into the application. Summon reads a secrets.yml file that defines the secrets that the application needs and maps them to environment variables. Then, Summon fetches the secrets from the CCP using the provider plugin and exports them as environment variables to the application sub-process. The application can then read the secrets from the environment variables as if they were hard-coded in the configuration file. References: Summon-inject secrets, .NET Application Password SDK

 According to the CyberArk Sentry Secrets Manager documentation, the Secrets Provider for Kubernetes can be deployed as an init container or a sidecar in Push-to-File mode. In Push-to-File mode, the Secrets Provider pushes Conjur secrets to one or more secrets files in a shared volume in the same Pod as the application container. The application container can then consume the secrets files from the shared volume. The deployment option that should be used to support rotation with Push-to-File mode is the sidecar, because the sidecar can run continuously and check for updates to the secrets in Conjur. If changes are detected, the sidecar can update the secrets files in the shared volume. The init container, on the other hand, runs to completion and does not support rotation. The application container and the service broker are not valid deployment options for the Secrets Provider for Kubernetes in Push-to-File mode. References: 1: Secrets Provider - Init container/Sidecar - Push-to-File mode 2: Secrets Provider - init container/sidecar - Push-to-File mode

ServiceAccount and StatefulSet are two of the Kubernetes resources/objects that can be used as Conjur identities, in addition to Namespace and Deployment. Conjur identities are the entities that can authenticate with Conjur and retrieve secrets from it. Conjur supports authenticating Kubernetes resources/objects using the Conjur Kubernetes Authenticator, which is a sidecar or init container that runs alongside the application container and injects the Conjur access token into a shared volume. The application container can then use the access token to fetch secrets from Conjur.

A ServiceAccount is a Kubernetes resource that represents an identity for processes that run in a pod. ServiceAccounts can be used to grant specific privileges and permissions to the pod, and to enable communication with the Kubernetes API server. A ServiceAccount can be used as a Conjur identity by annotating it with the Conjur authentication policy branch ID, and by creating a Conjur host entity that matches the ServiceAccount name and namespace. The Conjur Kubernetes Authenticator will then use the ServiceAccount token to authenticate the pod with Conjur and obtain the Conjur access token.

A StatefulSet is a Kubernetes resource that manages the deployment and scaling of a set of pods, and provides guarantees about the ordering and uniqueness of these pods. StatefulSets are useful for applications that require stable and persistent identities, such as databases, message brokers, or distributed systems. A StatefulSet can be used as a Conjur identity by annotating it with the Conjur authentication policy branch ID, and by creating a Conjur host entity that matches the StatefulSet name and namespace. The Conjur Kubernetes Authenticator will then use the pod name and namespace to authenticate the pod with Conjur and obtain the Conjur access token.

The other options are not valid Kubernetes resources/objects that can be used as Conjur identities. Replica sets are a lower-level resource that are usually managed by higher-level resources such as Deployments or StatefulSets, and do not have their own identity or annotations. Secrets are a Kubernetes resource that store sensitive information such as passwords, tokens, or keys, and are not meant to be used as identities. Tokenreviews are a Kubernetes resource that are used to verify the validity of a ServiceAccount token, and are not meant to be used as identities either. References:

• Securing Secrets in Kubernetes - CyberArk Developer, Section “Conjur Kubernetes Authentication: A Hands-On Demonstration”
• GitHub - cyberark/secrets-provider-for-k8s: Cyberark secrets provider …, Section “Consuming Secrets from CyberArk Secrets Provider”
• Secure your Kubernetes-deployed applications with CyberArk Conjur, Section “How it works”
• Simplify and Improve Container Security Using New CyberArk Conjur …, Section “CyberArk Conjur Enterprise”
• Keeping Secrets Secure on Kubernetes - CyberArk Developer, Section “The Solution”

The correct order for prioritization of the findings is as follows:

• A new vulnerability scanner project is nearing completion and is expected to go into production soon. This scanner is owned by the Security Team that owns CyberArk. This finding should be prioritized first because it has the highest urgency, feasibility, and alignment with the Security Team’s goals. The vulnerability scanner is a critical security tool that needs to protect its credentials from unauthorized access. The Security Team can leverage their own expertise and authority to implement the Secrets Manager solution for this project without much delay or dependency.
• A large, high performance application under PCI DSS regulation will require many CPs. This will require a license purchase. The procurement process can take 6-12 months. The development team is eager to work with Security on this project. This finding should be prioritized second because it has a high impact, compliance requirement, and stakeholder support. The application handles sensitive payment card data that needs to be secured by the Secrets Manager solution. The development team is willing to collaborate with the Security Team on this project and can help with the technical aspects of the implementation. However, this finding also has a high cost and a long lead time due to the license purchase and the procurement process.
• A small, internally developed application under HIPPA regulation needs updates to the application code to retrieve secrets from a Secrets Manager solution. The development team stated they cannot accommodate this work before next quarter. This finding should be prioritized third because it has a moderate impact, compliance requirement, and feasibility. The application handles protected health information that needs to be secured by the Secrets Manager solution. The development team is aware of the need to update the application code to integrate with the Secrets Manager solution, but they have other priorities and constraints that prevent them from doing so in the near term.

Here's the reasoning behind this order:

1. New vulnerability scanner project:

This project directly impacts CyberArk's Security Team, making it a high priority due to potential internal security concerns. Additionally, its near-completion state suggests a quicker implementation timeframe.

2. Large application under PCI DSS:

While this application requires significant resources and time investment due to license purchase and development, its high performance and PCI DSS regulation compliance mandate prioritization. Delaying this project could potentially lead to security vulnerabilities and compliance issues.

3. Small application under HIPAA:

Although HIPAA regulation necessitates compliance, the application's size and development team's delay request suggest a lower priority compared to the previous two projects. However, it should still be addressed within the next quarter as mandated by the development team.

The most likely cause for this issue is A. malformed Policy file. A 422 Response from Conjur indicates that the request was well-formed but was unable to be followed due to semantic errors. A common semantic error when loading policy is having a malformed Policy file, which means that the Policy file does not follow the correct syntax, structure, or logic of the Conjur Policy language. A malformed Policy file can result from typos, missing or extra characters, incorrect indentation, invalid references, or other mistakes that prevent Conjur from parsing and applying the Policy file. The message that accompanies the 422 Response will usually provide more details about the error and the location of the problem in the Policy file.

To resolve this issue, you should review the Policy file and check for any errors or inconsistencies. You can use a YAML validator or a text editor with syntax highlighting to help you identify and correct any syntax errors. You can also use the Conjur Policy Simulator to test and debug your Policy file before loading it to Conjur. The Conjur Policy Simulator is a web-based tool that allows you to upload your Policy file and see how it will affect the Conjur data model, without actually loading it to Conjur. You can also use the Conjur Policy Simulator to compare different versions of your Policy file and see the changes and conflicts between them. For more information, refer to the following resources:

• Policy - CyberArk, Section “Policy”
• Policy Language - CyberArk, Section “Policy Language”
• Conjur Policy Simulator - CyberArk, Section “Conjur Policy Simulator”

According to the CyberArk Sentry Secrets Manager documentation, Conjur is a secrets management solution that consists of a leader node and one or more follower nodes. The leader node is responsible for managing the secrets, policies, and audit records, while the follower nodes are read-only replicas that can serve secrets requests from applications. To achieve high availability in AWS cloud infrastructure, the minimally viable Conjur deployment architecture is to have one follower in each availability zone (AZ) and a load balancer for the region. This way, if one AZ fails, the applications can still access secrets from another AZ through the load balancer. Having two followers in each region, load balanced for the region, is not enough to ensure high availability, as a regional outage can affect both followers. Having two followers in each AZ, load balanced for the region, is more than necessary, as one follower per AZ can handle the secrets requests. Having two followers in each region, load balanced across all regions, is not feasible, as Conjur does not support cross-region replication. References: 1: Conjur Architecture 2: Deploying Conjur on AWS

Based on the image you sent, the correct network port to its function in Conjur are:

• 22: required for SSH access
• 443: TLS endpoint for Conjur UI and API
• 444: HTTP health endpoint: simplifies load balancer setup
• 1999: audit events are streamed from the Follower to the Leader (using syslog-ng)
• 5432: required for data replication from the Leader to Standbys and Followers (PostgreSQL)

These are the standard ports and protocols used by the Conjur components to communicate with each other and with external clients. The ports can be customized according to the network and security requirements of the organization. These ports are documented in the CyberArk Secrets Manager documentation1 and the CyberArk Secrets Manager training course2.

The correct sequence of installation steps for a Credential Provider on a Linux host is as follows:

• Download the correct install package to a directory on the Linux host and decompress1.
• Copy the aimparms.sample file to /var/tmp/aimparms. Create a Credential File with an account with sufficient permissions to install. Modify the Vault.ini file to point to the correct vault2.
• Install the correct Credential Provider package for the distribution of Linux using the command: rpm -ivh CARKaim-..rpm2.
• Check that the aimprv service is running using the command: service aimprv status2.

References: 1: Download the Credential Provider 2: Install Credential Provider on Linux / AIX

According to the CyberArk Sentry Secrets Manager documentation, auto-failover is a feature that enables the automatic promotion of a standby node to a leader node in case of a leader failure. Auto-failover requires a quorum, which is a majority of nodes in the cluster that are available and synchronized. A quorum ensures that only one node can be promoted to a leader at a time and prevents split-brain scenarios. In the exhibit, each option shows a network diagram of a load balancer and four nodes, one of which is crossed out with a red X, indicating a leader failure. The text below each diagram indicates whether there is a quorum or not. Option C is the only example where auto-failover will occur, because there is a quorum of three out of four nodes, and one of the standby nodes can be promoted to a leader. Option A will not have auto-failover, because there is no quorum, as only two out of four nodes are available. Option B will not have auto-failover, because there is no quorum, as only one out of four nodes is available. Option D will not have auto-failover, because there is no quorum, as none of the nodes are available. References: 1: Auto-failover 2: Configure auto-failover

The appropriate Secrets Manager solution for each scenario is as follows:

• token based retrieval of secrets, such as OIDC or JWT: Conjur
• workloads requiring the fastest secrets delivery performance possible: ASCP
• agentless workload authentication that relies on OS User: CCP

These solutions are described in the Secrets Management Tools page of the CyberArk website

The best way to enable debug for CCP is to edit the web.config file in the AIMWebService folder and change the value of the AIMWebServiceTrace parameter to 4, which is the verbose level. This will generate detailed logs in the AIMWSTrace.log file in the logs folder. The logs folder may need to be created manually and given the appropriate permissions for the IIS_IUSRS group. After changing the web.config file, the Windows Web Server (IIS) service needs to be restarted to apply the changes. This method is recommended by CyberArk Support and documented in the CyberArk Knowledge Base1.

Editing the basic_appprovider.conf file and changing the AIMWebServiceTrace value is not a valid option, as this parameter does not exist in this file. The basic_appprovider.conf file is used to configure the basic provider settings, such as the AppProviderVaultParmsFile, the AppProviderPort, and the AppProviderCacheMode. The AIMWebServiceTrace parameter is only found in the web.config file of the AIMWebService.

In the PVWA, going to the Applications tab, selecting the Application in question, and going to Options > Logging and choosing Debug is not a valid option, as this will only enable debug for the Application Identity Manager (AIM) component, not the CCP component. The AIM component is used to manage the application identities and their access to the Vault. The CCP component is used to provide secure retrieval of credentials from the Vault using web services. Enabling debug for AIM will generate logs in the APPconsole.log, APPtrace.log, and APPaudit.log files in the ApplicationPasswordProvider\Logs folder, but these logs will not help to troubleshoot the CCP authentication issues.

From the command line, running appprvmgr.exe update_config logging=debug is not a valid option, as this will only enable debug for the Application Provider Manager (APM) component, not the CCP component. The APM component is used to manage the configuration and operation of the providers, such as the basic provider, the LDAP provider, and the ENE provider. Running appprvmgr.exe update_config logging=debug will generate logs in the appprvmgr.log file in the ApplicationPasswordProvider\Logs folder, but these logs will not help to troubleshoot the CCP authentication issues. References:

• Enable Debugging and Gather Logs - Central Credential Provider1

References:

• CyberArk Sentry Secrets Manager documentation: https://docs.cyberark.com/Portal/Content/Resources/_TopNav/cc_Portal.htm
• CyberArk Sentry Secrets Manager course materials: https://training.cyberark.com/learn
• CyberArk whitepapers and technical resources: https://www.cyberark.com/resources/home/cyberark-secrets-manager

• The authentication flow begins with the requester presenting their credentials to Conjur. This can be in the form of a username and password, an API key, or another supported method.
• Conjur verifies the presented credentials against its internal database. If the credentials are valid, Conjur generates and returns a short-lived access token to the requester.
• The requester includes the access token with every subsequent request to access Conjur resources. This allows Conjur to identify the requester and authorize their access to specific secrets and functionalities based on configured policies.
• Finally, each request is evaluated against the Conjur RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) rules defined in its policy. These rules determine which users and roles have access to specific resources and what actions they can perform. Only requests that comply with these rules are granted access.

Followers are read-only replicas of the Leader that perform asynchronous replication from the Leader. This means that they receive updates from the Leader periodically, but not in real time. Followers are designed to handle all types of read requests from workloads and applications, such as authentication, permission checks, and secret fetches. Followers can scale horizontally to support a large number of concurrent requests and reduce the load on the Leader. Followers also provide high availability and disaster recovery by serving as backup nodes in case of Leader failure or network partition. References: Set up Follower, Deploy the Conjur Follower, Follower architecture

According to the CyberArk Sentry Secrets Manager documentation, JWT-based authentication is the recommended method for authenticating Kubernetes pods with Conjur. JWT-based authentication uses JSON Web Tokens (JWTs) that are issued by the Kubernetes API server and signed by its private key. The JWTs contain the pod’s namespace and service account as identity characteristics, which are verified by Conjur against a policy that defines the allowed namespaces and service accounts. JWT-based authentication is fast, scalable, and secure, as it does not require any additional certificates, secrets, or sidecars to be deployed on the pods. JWT-based authentication also supports rotation and revocation of the Kubernetes API server’s private key, which enhances the security and resilience of the authentication process.

Certificate-based authentication is another method for authenticating Kubernetes pods with Conjur, but it is not the best option for performance. Certificate-based authentication uses X.509 certificates that are generated by a Conjur CA service and injected into the pods as Kubernetes secrets. The certificates contain the pod’s namespace and service account as identity characteristics, which are verified by Conjur against a policy that defines the allowed namespaces and service accounts. Certificate-based authentication is secure and reliable, but it requires more resources and steps to generate, inject, and manage the certificates and secrets. Certificate-based authentication also does not support rotation and revocation of the certificates, which may pose a security risk if the certificates are compromised or expired.

API key authentication and Connect (OIDC) authentication are not valid methods for authenticating Kubernetes pods with Conjur. API key authentication is used for authenticating hosts, users, and applications that have a Conjur identity and an API key. Connect (OIDC) authentication is used for authenticating users and applications that have an OpenID Connect identity and a token. These methods are not suitable for Kubernetes pods, as they do not use the pod’s namespace and service account as identity characteristics, and they require additional secrets or tokens to be stored and managed on the pods. References: = JWT Authenticator | CyberArk Docs; Certificate Authenticator | CyberArk Docs; API Key Authenticator | CyberArk Docs; Connect Authenticator | CyberArk Docs

The log entry shows a failed authentication attempt with Conjur using the authn-jwt method. This method allows applications to authenticate with Conjur using JSON Web Tokens (JWTs) that are signed by a trusted identity provider. In this case, the application is Jenkins, which is a CI/CD tool that can integrate with Conjur using the Conjur Jenkins plugin. The plugin allows Jenkins to securely retrieve secrets from Conjur and inject them as environment variables into Jenkins pipelines or projects.

The log entry indicates that the JWT sent by Jenkins was rejected by Conjur because of an SSL connection error. The error message says that the certificate chain of Jenkins could not be verified by Conjur, and that the certificate authority (CA) that signed the Jenkins certificate was unknown to Conjur. This means that the Jenkins certificate chain is not trusted by Conjur, and that Conjur does not have the CA certificate of Jenkins in its trust store. Therefore, Conjur cannot establish a secure and trusted connection with Jenkins, and cannot validate the JWT signature.

To fix this problem, the Jenkins certificate chain needs to be trusted by Conjur. This can be done by copying the CA certificate of Jenkins to the Conjur server, and adding it to the Conjur trust store. The Conjur trust store is a directory that contains the CA certificates of the trusted identity providers for the authn-jwt method. The Conjur server also needs to be restarted for the changes to take effect.

References = Conjur Jenkins Plugin; Conjur JWT Authentication; Conjur Trust Store