CEHPC Exam Dumps - Ethical Hacking Professional Certification Exam

Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) is aweb application security vulnerabilitythat allows attackers to inject malicious client-side scripts into trusted web pages. This makes option A the correct answer. XSS occurs when applications fail to properly validate, sanitize, or encode user input before displaying it to other users.

When an XSS vulnerability is exploited, the injected script runs in the victim’s browser within the security context of the vulnerable website. This can lead to session hijacking, cookie theft, credential harvesting, keylogging, or redirection to malicious websites. XSS is commonly categorized intostored XSS, reflected XSS, and DOM-based XSS, all of which ethical hackers test during web application assessments.

Option B is incorrect because cloned websites are typically associated with phishing attacks, not XSS vulnerabilities. Option C is incorrect because XSS is primarily a web-based vulnerability, not a mobile-specific issue involving balance or contact theft.

From a defensive perspective, understanding XSS is critical for implementing secure coding practices such as input validation, output encoding, Content Security Policy (CSP), and proper use of modern frameworks. Ethical hackers test for XSS to help organizations prevent client-side attacks and protect user data.

Phishing is a widespread form of social engineering where an attacker sends deceptive communications that appear to come from a reputable source, such as a bank, a popular web service, or even an internal IT department. The primary goal is to trick the recipient into revealing sensitive personal or corporate information, such as usernames, passwords, credit card numbers, or proprietary data.

A typical phishing attack often involves an email or text message that creates a sense of urgency—for example, claiming there has been "unauthorized activity" on an account and providing a link to "verify your identity". This link leads to a fraudulent website that looks identical to the legitimate one. When the victim enters their credentials, they are directly handed over to the attacker.

Phishing has evolved into several specialized categories:

Spear Phishing: Targeted attacks aimed at a specific individual or organization, often using personalized information to increase the appearance of legitimacy.

Whaling: A form of spear phishing directed at high-level executives (CEOs, CFOs) to steal high-value information or authorize large wire transfers.

Vishing and Smishing: Phishing conducted via voice calls (Vishing) or SMS text messages (Smishing).

From an ethical hacking perspective, phishing simulations are a critical part of a security assessment because they test the "human firewall." Even the most advanced technical defenses can be bypassed if an employee is manipulated into providing their login token or clicking a malicious attachment. Protecting against phishing requires a combination of technical controls (email filters, MFA) and constant user awareness training.

Practicing with VulnHub machines isnot illegalwhen done correctly, making option B the correct answer. VulnHub provides intentionally vulnerable virtual machines designed specifically forlegal and ethical penetration testing practicein controlled environments.

These machines are downloaded and run locally using virtualization software, ensuring that no external organizations or real-world systems are affected. Users are explicitly authorized to test and exploit these systems for educational purposes, making them ideal for learning ethical hacking techniques safely.

Option A is incorrect because authorization is explicitly granted by the creators of VulnHub machines. Option C is incorrect because these machines do contain real vulnerabilities, which is the purpose of the platform.

From an ethical hacking standpoint, practicing in legal environments is essential for skill development without violating laws or ethical standards. VulnHub labs help learners understand reconnaissance, exploitation, privilege escalation, and post-exploitation techniques in a risk-free setting.

Using authorized platforms reinforces responsible hacking behavior, legal compliance, and professional standards. Ethical hackers must always ensure they have explicit permission before testing any system, and VulnHub provides exactly that framework.

Active reconnaissance is a phase of ethical hacking in which information is gathered bydirectly interacting with the target system. This makes option C the correct answer. Unlike passive reconnaissance, active reconnaissance involves sending requests, probes, or packets to the target to elicit responses that reveal useful technical details.

Common active reconnaissance techniques includeport scanning,service enumeration,banner grabbing,DNS queries, andnetwork mapping. These methods help ethical hackers identify open ports, running services, operating systems, and potential vulnerabilities. Active reconnaissance is typically conducted after passive techniques have provided initial intelligence.

Option A is incorrect because recognizing a target without action does not describe reconnaissance behavior. Option B is also incorrect because observing without interaction definespassive reconnaissance, not active reconnaissance.

From an ethical hacking perspective, active reconnaissance is more intrusive and therefore more likely to be detected by intrusion detection systems or firewalls. Because of this, it must always be performed withexplicit authorization. Despite the increased risk of detection, active reconnaissance provides far more accurate and actionable information, making it essential for effective penetration testing.

Understanding the distinction between active and passive reconnaissance helps security professionals choose the correct techniques based on scope, authorization, and risk tolerance. Properly managed, active reconnaissance enables organizations to identify weaknesses early and strengthen their defensive security posture.

In ethical hacking and penetration testing, a dictionary used for brute-force or dictionary attacks is afile containing a list of potential passwordsthat an attacker or tester attempts against a target authentication mechanism. Therefore, option C is the correct answer.

Dictionary files are typically plain text documents that include commonly used passwords, leaked credentials, default passwords, variations of words, and patterns frequently chosen by users. Ethical hackers use these dictionaries duringpassword auditing and authentication testingto assess the strength of password policies implemented by an organization.

Option A is incorrect because a traditional language dictionary explains word meanings and is not structured for authentication testing. Option B is also incorrect because passwords are not normally stored in readable plain text documents; secure systems store passwords using hashing and salting mechanisms.

From a security perspective, dictionary attacks exploithuman behavior, particularly the tendency to choose weak or predictable passwords. Ethical hackers simulate these attacks in controlled environments to demonstrate the risks of poor password hygiene. The results help organizations enforce stronger password policies, multi-factor authentication, and account lockout mechanisms.

Understanding dictionary-based brute-force attacks is essential for managing attack vectors, as credential compromise remains one of the most common entry points for attackers. Ethical use of dictionaries allows organizations to proactively identify weaknesses before malicious actors exploit them.

Phishing attacks arenot limited to local networks, making option A the correct answer. Modern phishing techniques are designed to operate over the internet and target victims globally using email, messaging platforms, social networks, and malicious websites.

In ethical hacking and cybersecurity training, phishing demonstrations often begin in controlled or local environments to teach fundamental concepts safely. However, the same techniques—such as fake login pages, credential harvesting, and social manipulation—are widely used by attackers outside local networks. These attacks rely on human interaction rather than network proximity.

Option B is incorrect because phishing does not require local network access. Option C is incorrect because phishing works across many devices, including desktops, laptops, and mobile phones.

From a security trends perspective, phishing remains one of themost effective and prevalent cyberattack methods. Attackers continuously adapt their techniques to bypass email filters and exploit human trust. Ethical hackers study phishing to help organizations improve awareness, email security, and authentication mechanisms.

Understanding that phishing operates beyond local environments reinforces the importance of user training, multi-factor authentication, and proactive monitoring. Ethical testing helps organizations reduce the risk posed by phishing attacks in real-world scenarios.

A zero-day vulnerability refers to a software or hardware flaw that is unknown to the vendor or developer and, consequently, has no available patch or fix to mitigate the risk. The term "zero-day" signifies that the developers have had "zero days" to address the problem since it was discovered. These vulnerabilities are exceptionally dangerous because they exist in a window of time where users are completely unprotected, and standard security software like antivirus or intrusion detection systems may not have signatures to detect them.

The lifecycle of a zero-day often begins with a researcher or a malicious actor discovering a bug in a system's code. If a malicious actor finds it first, they may develop a "zero-day exploit"—a specific piece of code designed to take advantage of that flaw—to gain unauthorized access, steal data, or damage systems. These exploits are highly prized in the cyber-arms market due to their effectiveness against even well-defended targets.

In the context of ethical hacking, identifying potential zero-day vulnerabilities requires advanced techniques such asfuzzing(sending massive amounts of random data to a program to trigger crashes) andreverse engineering. Once a zero-day is discovered by a "White Hat," the ethical protocol is "Responsible Disclosure," where the researcher notifies the vendor privately to allow them time to create a patch before the information is made public. Managing the risk of zero-days requires "Defense in Depth," where multiple layers of security (like network segmentation and behavioral analytics) work to contain an attack even if the initial entry point is an unpatched flaw.

Masquerading is a sophisticated attack vector that consists of an unauthorized user or process impersonating the identity of a legitimate user, system, or service within a computer environment. In the context of cybersecurity, the goal of masquerading is to bypass authentication controls and gain access to restricted resources or information by appearing as a trusted entity. This is often a critical step in the "Gaining Access" phase of a cyberattack, as it allows the attacker to operate under the radar of traditional security logging.

There are several ways masquerading can manifest:

User Impersonation: An attacker uses stolen credentials (usernames and passwords) to log into a system as a legitimate employee.

IP Spoofing: An attacker crafts network packets with a forged source IP address to make it appear as though the traffic is coming from a trusted internal machine.

Email Spoofing: An attacker sends an email that appears to come from a known, trusted source (like an executive or a bank) to trick the recipient into performing an action, such as revealing a password.

Managing and mitigating the threat of masquerading requires robust "Identity and Access Management" (IAM) controls. The most effective defense is Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). Even if an attacker successfully masquerades as a user by stealing their password, the MFA requirement provides a second layer of verification that is much harder to forge. Additionally, organizations can use "Behavioral Analytics" to detect anomalies; for example, if a user who typically logs in from London suddenly logs in from a different continent, the system can flag it as a potential masquerading attempt. By understanding that masquerading relies on the manipulation of trust and identity, ethical hackers can help organizations implement "Zero Trust" architectures, where every request is verified regardless of where it appears to originate.