CEH Practice Question: Malware, Social Engineering and Network Attacks
A penetration tester uses a tool to perform a MAC flooding attack. What is the intended result of this attack?
⚠ Common exam trap
In the EC-CEH exam, the distinction between MAC flooding (which targets the switch's CAM table) and ARP poisoning (which targets host ARP caches) is important, so candidates mistakenly choose 'Poison the ARP cache' because both involve MAC addresses and network sniffing.
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
✓
Read all network traffic by turning the switch into a hub
A MAC flooding attack exploits the limited size of a switch's Content Addressable Memory (CAM) table. By sending thousands of packets with random source MAC addresses, the attacker fills the CAM table, forcing the switch to fail open and broadcast all incoming frames to every port, effectively turning it into a hub. This allows the attacker to capture network traffic that would normally be isolated to a specific port.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Read all network traffic by turning the switch into a hub
Why this is correct
MAC flooding makes the switch act like a hub, forwarding all frames to all ports.
- ✗
Modify the MAC address of the attacker's NIC
Why it's wrong here
MAC flooding does not change the attacker's MAC.
- ✗
Cause a denial of service on the switch
Why it's wrong here
While DoS may occur, the primary goal is to force the switch to broadcast traffic for sniffing.
- ✗
Poison the ARP cache of the target hosts
Why it's wrong here
ARP poisoning is a different attack.
Quick reference
Access Control Model Comparison
| Model | Acronym | Who Controls Access? | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discretionary Access Control | DAC | Resource owner | Small teams, file shares |
| Mandatory Access Control | MAC | System / security labels | Classified govt / military |
| Role-Based Access Control | RBAC | Administrator (via roles) | Enterprise environments |
| Attribute-Based Access Control | ABAC | Policy engine (user + resource attributes) | Fine-grained, dynamic policies |
| Rule-Based Access Control | RuBAC | System rules / ACLs | Firewall rules, network ACLs |
Go deeper
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CEH practice question is part of Courseiva's free EC-Council 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 CEH exam.