PT-AM-CPE Exam Study Guide: The Ultimate 2026 Practice Test

When configuring Authorization Policies in PingAM 8.0.2, defining the Resource Pattern is critical for determining which URLs the policy applies to. PingAM uses specific wildcard symbols to represent dynamic parts of a URI, but they behave differently regarding directory depth.

According to the PingAM documentation on "Policies and Resource Types":

The * Wildcard (One-Level Wildcard) : This wildcard matches characters within a single path level. It does not match forward slashes (/). For example, http://example.com/* will match http://example.com/page1 but will not match http://example.com/folder/page1.

The -*- Wildcard (Multi-Level Wildcard) : This wildcard is designed to match any number of characters, including forward slashes (/), effectively spanning multiple levels of a directory hierarchy. For example, http://example.com/-*- will match http://example.com/page1, http://example.com/folder/page1, and even http://example.com/deeply/nested/resource.

Statement B is the correct technical distinction. Statement A is incorrect because query parameters are typically handled by specifically enabling "Query Parameter Matching" in the Resource Type configuration, rather than being a primary distinction between these two wildcards. Statement C is technically discouraged because mixing them can lead to unpredictable or overly broad matches that are difficult to debug. Statement D is incorrect because wildcards can be used in the host/port portion of the URL if the resource type is configured to support it. Understanding the difference between single-level (*) and multi-level (-*-) matching is a fundamental skill for AM policy administrators to prevent security gaps.

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PingAM 8.0.2 supports the OAuth 2.0 Token Exchange specification (RFC 8693), which allows a client to exchange one type of security token for another.1 This is commonly used in microservices architectures where a service needs to exchange an incoming access token for a more specific token to call a downstream service (impersonation or delegation).

According to the PingAM documentation on "Token Exchange," the request is made to the /oauth2/access_token (or /oauth2/token) endpoint.2 As per the RFC 8693 standard strictly implemented by PingAM, the mandatory grant_type parameter must be set to exactly:

urn:ietf:params:oauth:grant-type:token-exchange

However, there is a common discrepancy in documentation versus implementation strings. Reviewing the PingAM 8.0.2 OAuth2 Developer Guide , the engine recognizes the standard IETF URN. Looking at the options provided, Option B contains the string urn:ietf:params:oauth:grant-type:token-exchange (noting that "oauth2" is often used in descriptive text but the URI is technically oauth).

Note: There is a minor typo in the standard option C which is actually the standard. However, within the context of Ping Identity's specific documentation and certification exams, the URI urn:ietf:params:oauth:grant-type:token-exchange is the correct identifier.

This grant type enables the subject_token and actor_token parameters to be processed. If the client specifically wants an ID Token in return, they must ensure the requested_token_type is set to urn:ietf:params:oauth:token-type:id_token, but the grant_type itself remains the universal token-exchange URI.

To implement Step-up Authentication in PingAM 8.0.2, you typically use Authorization Policies that include "Environment Conditions."14 These conditions check the "quality" of the user's current session. If the session does not meet the specified condition, PingAM generates an Advice, which triggers the step-up process.

According to the "Condition Types" reference in the PingAM 8 documentation, the conditions used specifically to evaluate how a user authenticated are:

Authentication Level (greater than or equal to) : This is the most common condition for step-up. It checks if the session's Auth Level is at least a certain value (e.g., Level 2). If the user only has a Level 1 session, the policy fails and triggers an upgrade.

Authentication by Service : This condition checks if the user authenticated using a specific Authentication Tree or Chain (e.g., the user must have used the "SecureBankMFA" tree).

Authentication by Module Instance : This is used for legacy deployments where individual modules are used instead of trees. It verifies that the user successfully completed a specific module (e.g., the "DataStore" module).

Authentication to a Realm (Option D) is generally not a condition used for step-up authentication. While a policy exists within a realm, the "step-up" logic is focused on the method or level of authentication within that realm, not the fact that they are in the realm itself (which is already a prerequisite for reaching the policy engine). Therefore, the combination of A, B, and C (Option B) represents the specific environment conditions designed to evaluate the authentication context for step-up or "Quality of Service" (QoS) requirements.