Pass the ECCouncil CEH v13 312-50v13 Questions and answers with CertsForce

The nbtstat command is a Windows utility that displays NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NetBT) protocol statistics, NetBIOS name tables, and the NetBIOS name cache. However, the nbtstat command does not support IPv6 addresses, which are the standard format for the Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6). Therefore, using the nbtstat command with IPv6 addresses will result in an error message or no output. To enumerate NetBIOS names on a network that uses IPv6, you should switch to an enumeration tool that supports IPv6, such as Nmap, which is a network scanning and security auditing tool. Nmap has a scripting engine (NSE) that allows users to write and execute scripts for various network tasks, including NetBIOS enumeration. Nmap can also detect the operating system, services, and vulnerabilities of the target machines, regardless of the IP version they use. References:

Nbtstat Command - Computer Hope

Nbtstat CMD: Windows Network Command Line Prompt

[Nmap Scripting Engine (NSE) Documentation]

In CEH v13 Module 11: Hacking Wireless Networks, Kismet is introduced as a passive wireless sniffer and network detector used primarily on Linux systems.

Kismet passively listens for wireless beacons and data frames.

Can detect hidden SSIDs, rogue APs, and even wireless client behaviors.

Does not transmit any packets, making it stealthy and ideal for wireless reconnaissance.

Option Analysis:

A. Burp Suite: Used for web application testing, not wireless.

B. OpenVAS: Vulnerability scanner, not a packet sniffer.

C. tshark: CLI version of Wireshark, can analyze wired and wireless packets, but not wireless-specific or passive by default.

D. Kismet: Correct wireless packet analyzer for Linux.

Passive OS fingerprinting involves observing traffic from a remote host and analyzing it to infer details about the operating system without actively sending packets or probes. This is useful in stealthy reconnaissance where avoiding detection is critical.

tcpdump is a packet analyzer that captures traffic in real time. By analyzing certain TCP/IP header fields such as TTL (Time-To-Live), window size, TCP options, and DF (Don't Fragment) flags, attackers can passively deduce the operating system of the target host.

CEH v13 Guide states:

“Passive fingerprinting tools like tcpdump and Wireshark allow the attacker to capture packets and analyze them for OS-specific traits, making it possible to identify the OS without sending packets to the target system.”

Reference – CEH v13 Study Guide:

Module 02: Footprinting and Reconnaissance, Section: “OS Fingerprinting Techniques”, Subsection: “Passive OS Fingerprinting”

Incorrect Options Explained:

A: nmap is primarily an active scanning tool (though it has limited passive capabilities).

C: tracert is used for tracing packet routes, not OS fingerprinting.

D: ping checks host availability and latency, not OS details.

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A digital certificate, issued by a trusted Certificate Authority (CA), binds a public key to the identity of an entity (e.g., user, organization). This provides a means to validate ownership of the public key.

CEH v13 Reference:

Module 17: Cryptography

"A digital certificate ensures the authenticity of the public key through a trusted third party known as a Certificate Authority."

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CEH v13 emphasizes that well-secured applications use HTTPS, secure cookies, and session regeneration to defend against common session hijacking techniques. In such hardened environments, traditional attacks like session fixation or simple XSS-based token theft often fail because session IDs change at login and secure flags prevent exposure. The remaining viable approach is session token prediction, an advanced attack that analyzes statistical patterns, entropy weaknesses, or timing issues in session ID generation algorithms. CEH discusses that weak pseudorandom number generators (PRNGs) or predictable sequences can allow attackers to compute a valid session ID without intercepting traffic. This method bypasses cookie security and does not rely on manipulating user input, making it suitable for environments with strong defenses. MITM attacks (Option A) require certificate compromise, which is impractical. Session fixation (Option B) fails because the application regenerates tokens. XSS (Option D) is ineffective when secure flags prevent JavaScript access to cookies. Thus, token prediction is the correct answer.

A white hat (or a white hat hacker) is an ethical computer hacker, or a computer security expert, who focuses on penetration testing and in other testing methodologies that ensures the safety of an organization’s information systems. Ethical hacking may be a term meant to imply a broader category than simply penetration testing. Contrasted with black hat, a malicious hacker, the name comes from Western films, where heroic and antagonistic cowboys might traditionally wear a white and a black hat respectively. While a white hat hacker hacks under good intentions with permission, and a black hat hacker, most frequently unauthorized, has malicious intent, there’s a 3rd kind referred to as a gray hat hacker who hacks with good intentions but sometimes without permission.

White hat hackers can also add teams called “sneakers and/or hacker clubs”,red teams, or tiger teams.

While penetration testing concentrates on attacking software and computer systems from the beginning – scanning ports, examining known defects in protocols and applications running on the system and patch installations, as an example – ethical hacking may include other things. A full-blown ethical hack might include emailing staff to invite password details, searching through executive’s dustbins and typically breaking and entering, without the knowledge and consent of the targets. Only the owners, CEOs and Board Members (stake holders) who asked for such a censoring of this magnitude are aware. to undertake to duplicate a number of the destructive techniques a true attack might employ, ethical hackers may arrange for cloned test systems, or organize a hack late in the dark while systems are less critical. In most up-to-date cases these hacks perpetuate for the long-term con (days, if not weeks, of long-term human infiltration into an organization). Some examples include leaving USB/flash key drives with hidden auto-start software during a public area as if someone lost the tiny drive and an unsuspecting employee found it and took it.

Some other methods of completing these include:

• DoS attacks

• Social engineering tactics

• Reverse engineering

• Network security

• Disk and memory forensics

• Vulnerability research

• Security scanners such as:

– W3af

– Nessus

– Burp suite

• Frameworks such as:

– Metasploit

• Training Platforms

These methods identify and exploit known security vulnerabilities and plan to evade security to realize entry into secured areas. they’re ready to do that by hiding software and system ‘back-doors’ which will be used as a link to information or access that a non-ethical hacker, also referred to as ‘black-hat’ or ‘grey-hat’, might want to succeed in .

According to CEH v13 Module 09: Social Engineering, Whaling is a specific type of phishing attack that targets senior executives and high-value individuals.

It’s called “whaling” because these individuals are the “big fish.”

Attacks are highly targeted and customized, often using knowledge of the executive’s company, responsibilities, or communication style.

The goal is to gain access to sensitive systems, financial assets, or confidential data.

Option Breakdown:

A. Spear phishing: Targeted phishing but not necessarily aimed at high-profile executives.

B. Whaling: Correct – phishing directed at C-level or VIP targets.

C. Vishing: Voice phishing – conducted over telephone/VoIP.

D. Phishing: General term – broader category.

Web Server Attacks - DNS Server Hijacking Attacker compromises the DNS server and changes the DNS settings so that all the requests coming towards the target web server are redirected to his/her own malicious server. (P.1623/1607)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meet-in-the-middle_attack

The meet-in-the-middle attack (MITM), a known plaintext attack, is a generic space–time tradeoff cryptographic attack against encryption schemes that rely on performing multiple encryption operations in sequence. The MITM attack is the primary reason why Double DES is not used and why a Triple DES key (168-bit) can be bruteforced by an attacker with 256 space and 2112 operations.

The intruder has to know some parts of plaintext and their ciphertexts. Using meet-in-the-middle attacks it is possible to break ciphers, which have two or more secret keys for multiple encryption using the same algorithm. For example, the 3DES cipher works in this way. Meet-in-the-middle attack was first presented by Diffie and Hellman for cryptanalysis of DES algorithm.

A hybrid encryption system is a system that combines the advantages of both asymmetric and symmetric encryption algorithms. Asymmetric encryption, such as RSA, uses a pair of keys: a public key and a private key, which are mathematically related but not identical. Asymmetric encryption can provide key exchange, authentication, and non-repudiation, but it is slower and less efficient than symmetric encryption. Symmetric encryption, such as AES, uses a single key to encrypt and decrypt data. Symmetric encryption is faster and more efficient than asymmetric encryption, but it requires a secure way to share the key.

In a hybrid encryption system, RSA encryption is used for key exchange, and AES encryption is used for data encryption. This way, the system can benefit from the security of RSA and the speed of AES. However, the system also depends on the key sizes of both algorithms, which affect the security and performance of the system.

The key size of RSA encryption determines the number of bits in the public and private keys. The larger the key size, the more secure the encryption, but also the slower the key generation and encryption/decryption processes. The time complexity of generating an RSA key pair is O(n*2), where n is the key size in bits. This means that the time required to generate an RSA key pair increases quadratically with the key size. For example, if it takes 1 second to generate a 1024-bit RSA key pair, it will take 4 seconds to generate a 2048-bit RSA key pair, and 16 seconds to generate a 4096-bit RSA key pair.

The key size of AES encryption determines the number of bits in the symmetric key. The larger the key size, the more secure the encryption, but also the more rounds of encryption/decryption are needed. The time complexity of AES encryption is O(n), where n is the key size in bits. This means that the time required to encrypt/decrypt data increases linearly with the key size. For example, if it takes 1 second to encrypt/decrypt data with a 128-bit AES key, it will take 2 seconds to encrypt/decrypt data with a 256-bit AES key, and 4 seconds to encrypt/decrypt data with a 512-bit AES key.

An attacker has developed a quantum algorithm with time complexity O((log n)*2) to crack RSA encryption. This means that the time required to break RSA encryption decreases exponentially with the key size. For example, if it takes 1 second to break a 1024-bit RSA encryption, it will take 0.25 seconds to break a 2048-bit RSA encryption, and 0.0625 seconds to break a 4096-bit RSA encryption. This makes RSA encryption vulnerable to quantum attacks, unless the key size is very large.

Given n=4000 and variable AES key size, the scenario that is likely to provide the best balance of security and performance is C. AES key size=192 bits. This configuration is a compromise between options A and B, providing moderate security and performance. Option A, AES key size=128 bits, provides less security than option C, but RSA key generation and AES encryption will be faster. Option B, AES key size=256 bits, provides more security than option C, but RSA key generation may be slow. Option D, AES key size=512 bits, provides the highest level of security, but at a significant performance cost due to the large AES key size.

In CEH v13 Module 03: Scanning Networks, Nmap's evasion techniques are discussed for bypassing or confusing Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) and firewalls.

The -D option in Nmap is used to enable decoy scanning. It inserts false IP addresses in the scan to obfuscate the true origin of the scan.

This technique helps in masking the attacker’s IP and can confuse IDS logs.

Option Clarification:

A. -n/-R: Disables DNS resolution (-n) or uses reverse DNS (-R), does not evade detection.

B. -0N/-0X/-0G: Output formats (normal, XML, grepable), not related to evasion.

C. -T: Controls timing (e.g., -T0 is stealthy, -T5 is aggressive), but not explicitly for IDS evasion.

D. -D: Correct. Used for IDS/firewall evasion by using decoy IPs.

CEH v13 explains that WPA2-PSK security relies on the strength of the pre-shared key. Once the 4-way handshake is captured, the attacker must attempt offline cracking. CEH emphasizes that the dictionary attack is the most efficient and commonly used cracking method because it tests structured wordlists, human-derived passwords, and hybrid permutations, dramatically reducing time compared to full brute force. Brute forcing (Option B) is computationally heavy and often impractical unless the password is extremely short. XSS (Option A) and SQL injection (Option D) have no relevance to WPA2 authentication, which occurs at the wireless protocol level, not the router’s web interface. The dictionary attack is highlighted in CEH as the principal technique used with tools like aircrack-ng, hashcat, and pyrit, allowing rapid key testing using optimized GPU or CPU cracking. Thus, Option C is the most effective and CEH-aligned method.

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/ip/access-lists/26448-ACLsamples.html

Since the first line prohibits any TCP traffic (access-list 102 deny tcp any any), the lines below will simply be ignored by the router. Below you will find the example from CISCO documentation.

This figure shows that FTP (TCP, port 21) and FTP data (port 20) traffic sourced from NetB destined to NetA is denied, while all other IP traffic is permitted.

FTP uses port 21 and port 20. TCP traffic destined to port 21 and port 20 is denied and everything else is explicitly permitted.

access-list 102 deny tcp any any eq ftp

access-list 102 deny tcp any any eq ftp-data

access-list 102 permit ip any any

Well-known and widely used password-cracking tools include:

A. L0phtcrack – Windows password auditing tool that can crack LM and NTLM hashes.

E. John the Ripper – Versatile password cracker that supports many hash types on Unix, Windows, etc.

Incorrect Options:

B. NetCat – A network tool used for port scanning and data transfer.

C. “Jack the Ripper” is likely a mistaken reference to John the Ripper.

D. Netbus – A remote access Trojan, not a password cracker.

From CEH v13 Courseware:

Module 6: Password Cracking Tools

In CEH v13 Module 14: Cryptography, key escrow is discussed as a recovery mechanism where a third party securely holds a cryptographic key for retrieval if it’s lost.

Key Escrow Characteristics:

Common in enterprise environments for systems like BitLocker.

Keys are automatically backed up to Active Directory (AD) for future retrieval.

Ensures that encrypted data is not permanently lost due to forgotten or deleted keys.

Option Clarification:

A. Key archival: Storing old keys for audit/record-keeping.

B. Key escrow: Correct – Third-party or central storage for recovery purposes.

C. Certificate rollover: Replacement of expiring certificates.

D. Key renewal: Generating a new key after expiration or compromise.