CEH Web Application and Injection Attacks Practice Question
Which of the following tools is specifically designed to automate the process of detecting and exploiting SQL injection vulnerabilities in web applications?
⚠ Common exam trap
EC-Council often tests the distinction between general-purpose security tools (like Burp Suite or Metasploit) and specialized automation tools (like SQLMap), leading candidates to choose a tool they recognize for web testing rather than the one specifically designed for SQL injection automation.
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
✓
SQLMap
SQLMap is an open-source penetration testing tool that automates the detection and exploitation of SQL injection flaws. It supports a wide range of database backends and injection techniques, making it the go-to tool for this specific task.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Burp Suite
Why it's wrong here
Burp Suite is an interception proxy for manual and semi-automated web testing; its scanner detects injection flaws but does not automate exploitation of SQL injection to extract data. It is tempting because Burp is the standard toolkit for finding SQL injection, which would be the right choice when the goal is discovery rather than exploitation.
- ✗
Metasploit
Why it's wrong here
Metasploit is an exploitation framework whose modules target known CVEs and services; it does not crawl web forms to discover SQL injection points before exploiting them. It is tempting because Metasploit can deliver SQL injection payloads once a vulnerable parameter is known, which suits post-discovery exploitation rather than detection.
- ✓
SQLMap
Why this is correct
SQLMap automates detection and exploitation of SQL injection in web applications, fingerprinting the backend DBMS and dumping data via crafted payloads. This directly matches the stem's requirement for a tool specifically built to automate SQL injection detection and exploitation, rather than general web scanners.
- ✗
Nmap
Why it's wrong here
Nmap performs port scanning, service and version detection, and NSE scripting; it has no built-in capability to detect or exploit SQL injection in web applications. It is tempting because Nmap's scripting engine can probe HTTP services, which would suit host and service enumeration rather than application-layer injection testing.
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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.