CEH Practice Question: Malware, Social Engineering and Network Attacks
Which of the following tools is specifically designed for ARP poisoning and can be used to perform man-in-the-middle attacks on a local network?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse Metasploit's broad exploit capabilities with Ettercap's specialized ARP poisoning functionality, or assume that Wireshark's packet capture implies active attack capabilities, when in fact Ettercap is the quintessential tool for ARP-based MITM attacks on a LAN.
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
✓
Ettercap
Ettercap is specifically designed for ARP poisoning and man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks on a local network. It exploits the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) by sending forged ARP replies to associate the attacker's MAC address with the IP address of a legitimate host, thereby intercepting traffic between two hosts on the same subnet.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Nmap
Why it's wrong here
Nmap (Network Mapper) is primarily a powerful open-source tool used for network discovery and security auditing. It excels at host discovery, port scanning, OS detection, and version detection of services running on a network. While Nmap can identify active hosts and open ports, it lacks the specific functionality to manipulate ARP tables or inject malicious ARP packets for poisoning attacks, making it unsuitable for directly performing such an operation.
- ✗
Wireshark
Why it's wrong here
Wireshark is a widely used network protocol analyzer that allows users to interactively browse and capture live network traffic from various interfaces. It provides deep inspection of hundreds of protocols, enabling detailed analysis of network communications, troubleshooting, and security auditing by examining packet contents. However, its core function is passive observation and analysis of existing traffic, not active manipulation or injection of network traffic like ARP poisoning.
- ✗
Metasploit
Why it's wrong here
The Metasploit Framework is a comprehensive penetration testing platform that provides a vast collection of exploits, payloads, and post-exploitation modules for vulnerability exploitation. While it is highly versatile for compromising systems and performing post-exploitation activities, its primary design focus is not on direct network-level attacks such as ARP poisoning. Although some auxiliary modules or external scripts integrated within Metasploit might leverage ARP poisoning, it is not an inherent, standalone capability of the core framework itself.
- ✓
Ettercap
Why this is correct
Ettercap is a comprehensive, open-source suite specifically designed for man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks on local area networks, alongside network sniffing, content filtering, and active protocol dissection. It natively supports various MITM techniques, including robust ARP poisoning (ARP spoofing), which allows it to intercept traffic between two hosts by sending forged ARP replies. This capability makes Ettercap a primary and highly effective tool for manipulating network traffic flows and performing session hijacking or data interception.
Visual reference
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 |
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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.