GIAC Certified Incident Handler (GCIH) — Question 164

As related to buffer overflows, what is the purpose of the Instruction Pointer?

Answer options

• A. The Instruction Pointer tells the CPU where on the hard drive to look for the next instruction for the running program.
• B. The Instruction Pointer tells the CPU where to find newly allocated memory.
• C. The Instruction Pointer tells the CPU where in memory to find the next instruction for the running program.
• D. The Instruction Pointer tells the CPU where in the BIOS to find the boot up sequence.

Correct answer: A

Explanation

The correct answer is C, as the Instruction Pointer specifically points to the next instruction in memory for the currently executing program. Option A incorrectly associates the Instruction Pointer with hard drive locations, while B misrepresents its function by suggesting it deals with memory allocation. D is incorrect because the Instruction Pointer is not involved in the BIOS boot process.