A vulnerability assessment is the correct answer because it specifically involves evaluating a system to identify security weaknesses, potential threats, and the overall risk to an organization's information system. A vulnerability assessment includes processes to identify, quantify, and prioritize the vulnerabilities in a system. A penetration testing actively exploits vulnerabilities in the security of a computer system, but it is not the broad evaluation of potential security issues. Threat assessment focuses on identifying and evaluating potential threats, not the full scope of evaluating the system's vulnerabilities. Patch management is an incorrect answer because it refers to the process of managing software updates, which might remediate vulnerabilities but does not involve evaluating them.