During a routine security assessment, a cybersecurity analyst identifies that a critical internal application server, which is due for a compliance audit, is susceptible to a recently disclosed vulnerability. The patch for this vulnerability is scheduled for release after the audit date. Which mitigation technique provides the MOST secure approach to satisfy audit requirements without causing extended downtime for the server?
Temporarily shift traffic to a standby server until the official patch can be applied.
Enforce full encryption of communications to and from the server.
Implement a virtual patch via a Web Application Firewall to protect against the vulnerability.
Disable unnecessary services running on the server to reduce the attack surface.