Per an announcement made on the Cisco Learning Network today, the Core Knowledge sections of the CCIE Security and CCIE Storage Lab Exams have been removed.

Effective August 15, 2011, CCIE Security Lab Exam and CCIE Storage Networking Lab Exam, in all global locations, will no longer include the four open-ended Core Knowledge questions.  The removal of Core Knowledge questions allow candidates to utilize the total lab time for configuration and troubleshooting. The total lab time will remain eight hours.