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Vulnerability Analysis and System Hacking →mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

Quick Answer

The answer is to exploit the privilege escalation vulnerability on the web server to gain SYSTEM access, then dump the SQL Server service account credentials and use them to log into the database server with sysadmin privileges. This is the most effective next step because the web_svc account, while having local admin on the web server, only holds public and guest database roles on the SQL Server, which cannot read sensitive tables. By escalating to SYSTEM on the web server, you can extract the SQL Server service account password from sources like SQL Server error logs or the registry, and this service account typically runs with sysadmin privileges, granting full database access. On the CEH exam, this scenario tests your understanding of lateral movement and privilege escalation chains, specifically how compromising a service account on one tier can unlock higher privileges on another tier when database authentication is trusted. A common trap is trying to brute-force or inject directly into the database, but the real path is leveraging the local SYSTEM-level access to harvest stored credentials. Memory tip: think “SYSTEM on the web, sysadmin on the DB” — escalate locally to capture the service account keys.

CEH Vulnerability Analysis and System Hacking Practice Question

This CEH practice question tests your understanding of vulnerability analysis and system hacking. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.

You are a penetration tester hired by a medium-sized financial company. The company has a network consisting of 50 Windows workstations (Windows 10 Pro) and 5 Windows Server 2019 servers (domain controller, file server, web server, database server, and mail server). The network is segmented into three VLANs: User VLAN (192.168.1.0/24), Server VLAN (192.168.2.0/24), and DMZ (192.168.3.0/24). The web server is in the DMZ and hosts a public-facing e-commerce application built on ASP.NET with a SQL Server backend. The database server is in the Server VLAN and is not directly accessible from the internet. You are given a standard user account on a workstation in the User VLAN. After initial reconnaissance, you discover that the web server is running an outdated version of IIS (7.5) and is vulnerable to a known privilege escalation vulnerability (CVE-2020-0613) that allows local privilege escalation if an attacker has already gained initial access. You also find that the web application has a SQL injection vulnerability in the login page. You successfully exploit the SQL injection to extract the password hash of the web application's service account, which is 'web_svc'. You crack the hash offline and obtain the plaintext password. The 'web_svc' account has local administrative privileges on the web server. Using these credentials, you authenticate to the web server via RDP. From there, you want to pivot to the database server to extract credit card information stored in the database. The database server only allows connections from the web server on port 1433 (SQL Server). Using the 'web_svc' account, you are able to connect to the database server using SQL Server Management Studio. However, you find that the 'web_svc' account has only 'public' and 'guest' database roles, which do not allow reading any sensitive tables. You need to escalate privileges on the database server. What is the most effective next step?

Question 1mediummultiple choice
Open the full VLAN trunking answer →

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

✓

Exploit the privilege escalation vulnerability on the web server to gain SYSTEM access, then dump the SQL Server service account credentials (e.g., from the SQL Server error logs or registry) and use them to log into the database server with sysadmin privileges

Option B is correct because the web_svc account lacks sufficient database privileges, but by exploiting the privilege escalation vulnerability (CVE-2020-0613) on the web server to gain SYSTEM access, you can extract the SQL Server service account credentials (e.g., from SQL Server error logs or registry). The SQL Server service account typically runs with sysadmin privileges, allowing you to connect to the database server with full administrative rights and access the credit card data.

Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

  • ✗

    Use the web_svc account to create a new SQL Server login with sysadmin privileges via the SQL Server Management Studio

    Why it's wrong here

    The web_svc account does not have permissions to create logins or grant roles.

  • ✓

    Exploit the privilege escalation vulnerability on the web server to gain SYSTEM access, then dump the SQL Server service account credentials (e.g., from the SQL Server error logs or registry) and use them to log into the database server with sysadmin privileges

    Why this is correct

    This leverages the local escalation to obtain higher database privileges.

    Related concept

    Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

  • ✗

    Perform a brute-force attack against the 'sa' account on the database server using a wordlist

    Why it's wrong here

    Brute-forcing the sa account is noisy and may lock the account; also the sa account may have a strong password.

  • ✗

    Try to use the web_svc account to directly query the credit card table using a SQL injection payload on the web application

    Why it's wrong here

    The web_svc account lacks read permissions on the table, so this will fail.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap here is that candidates assume the web_svc account's local admin rights on the web server translate to database privileges, but SQL Server role-based access control is separate, so they must escalate locally first to capture the higher-privileged service account credentials.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

CVE-2020-0613 is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in IIS 7.5 that allows an authenticated user to elevate to SYSTEM via a crafted request to the IIS worker process. Once SYSTEM access is achieved, tools like Mimikatz or direct registry queries (e.g., HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL*\Setup) can retrieve the SQL Server service account credentials, which often have sysadmin privileges because SQL Server services are commonly configured to run under a domain or local service account with elevated database permissions. In real-world engagements, this pivot from web server to database server is a classic lateral movement technique, leveraging the trust relationship between the two tiers.

KKey Concepts to Remember

  • Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
  • Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
  • Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.

TExam Day Tips

  • Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
  • Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.

Key takeaway

Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.

Real-world example

How this comes up in practice

A help-desk technician troubleshoots why a newly connected PC cannot reach shared printers on the same floor. The cable is good, the switch port is active, but the PC is in VLAN 20 and the printers are in VLAN 10. The uplink trunk only allows VLAN 10. A trunk being up does not mean every VLAN crosses it.

What to study next

Got this wrong? Here's your next step.

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this CEH question test?

Vulnerability Analysis and System Hacking — This question tests Vulnerability Analysis and System Hacking — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Exploit the privilege escalation vulnerability on the web server to gain SYSTEM access, then dump the SQL Server service account credentials (e.g., from the SQL Server error logs or registry) and use them to log into the database server with sysadmin privileges — Option B is correct because the web_svc account lacks sufficient database privileges, but by exploiting the privilege escalation vulnerability (CVE-2020-0613) on the web server to gain SYSTEM access, you can extract the SQL Server service account credentials (e.g., from SQL Server error logs or registry). The SQL Server service account typically runs with sysadmin privileges, allowing you to connect to the database server with full administrative rights and access the credit card data.

What should I do if I get this CEH question wrong?

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026

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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.