CAS-004 Security Operations Practice Question
A security analyst is analyzing a memory dump from a compromised host using Volatility. Which Volatility plugin would be most useful to identify a malicious process that is hidden from the standard process listing?
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
✓
psxview
Volatility's psxview plugin uses cross-view techniques to detect hidden processes by comparing process lists from multiple sources (e.g., PsActiveProcessHead, EPROCESS pools, etc.). A process that appears in some lists but not others is likely hidden.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
pstree
Why it's wrong here
pstree shows a tree of processes but is also based on the same list as pslist.
- ✗
malfind
Why it's wrong here
malfind detects injected code and malformed memory regions, but is not specifically for hidden processes.
- ✓
psxview
Why this is correct
psxview cross-references multiple sources to find discrepancies, revealing hidden processes.
- ✗
pslist
Why it's wrong here
pslist shows processes from the PsActiveProcessHead list, but attackers can hide processes from that list; it may not find hidden ones.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CAS-005 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA 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 CAS-005 exam.