200-201 Host-Based Analysis Practice Question
In Linux forensics, which file would an analyst check to see command history of a user, potentially revealing malicious commands executed?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
/home/user/.bash_history
Bash history is stored in ~/.bash_history for each user.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
/etc/passwd
Why it's wrong here
/etc/passwd holds local account records — usernames, UIDs, home directories and shell paths — with no command data. It is tempting because it enumerates users during an investigation, and would be correct for identifying accounts or shells, not for recovering a user's executed command history.
- ✗
/proc/net/tcp
Why it's wrong here
/proc/net/tcp is a pseudo-file listing current TCP socket connections and their states, not shell input. It is tempting because it exposes active network activity, and would be correct when hunting for established connections or listening ports during live incident response rather than reconstructing typed commands.
- ✗
/var/log/auth.log
Why it's wrong here
auth.log records authentication events such as logins, sudo use and PAM failures, not the commands a user typed. It is tempting because it does reveal suspicious activity, and would be the right file when investigating brute-force attempts or privilege escalation rather than command history.
- ✓
/home/user/.bash_history
Why this is correct
The per-user `.bash_history` file in the home directory records commands typed in interactive Bash sessions, directly satisfying the requirement to recover a user's command history. Unlike system-wide logs, it captures the exact command lines executed, which may expose malicious activity such as reconnaissance or privilege escalation attempts.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 200-201 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Cisco certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 200-201 exam.