Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH v12) — Question 202

An ethical hacker is performing a network scan to evaluate the security of a company's IT infrastructure. During the scan, he discovers an active host with multiple open ports running various services. The hacker uses TCP communication flags to establish a connection with the host and starts communicating with it. He sends a SYN packet to a port on the host and receives a SYN/ACK packet back. He then sends an ACK packet for the received SYN/ACK packet, which triggers an open connection. Which of the following actions should the ethical hacker perform next?

Answer options

• A. Send a PSH packet to inform the receiving application about the buffered data.
• B. Conduct a vulnerability scan on the open port to identify any potential weaknesses.
• C. Scan another port on the same host using the SYN, ACK, and RST flags.
• D. Send a FIN or RST packet to close the connection.

Correct answer: B

Explanation

The correct answer is B because conducting a vulnerability scan on the open port is a crucial step to identify any security weaknesses that could be exploited. Option A is incorrect as sending a PSH packet is not a next step in assessing security. Option C does not directly assess the identified vulnerabilities, and option D would terminate the connection, which is not the goal at this stage.