CAS-004 Security Operations Practice Question
During a penetration test, the tester successfully gains access to a web server and wants to escalate privileges to domain administrator. The tester discovers that the web server has a service account that is a member of the local administrators group. Which technique would the tester most likely use to move laterally to a domain controller?
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
✓
Pass-the-hash
Pass-the-hash allows the tester to use the hash of the service account to authenticate to other systems without the plaintext password, enabling lateral movement.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
DNS poisoning
Why it's wrong here
DNS poisoning redirects traffic, not for lateral movement.
- ✗
ARP spoofing
Why it's wrong here
ARP spoofing is for man-in-the-middle attacks on the local network.
- ✓
Pass-the-hash
Why this is correct
Pass-the-hash uses the NTLM hash to authenticate to other systems.
- ✗
SQL injection
Why it's wrong here
SQL injection is for web applications, not lateral movement.
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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.