CPENT Active Directory Attacks Practice Question
During an Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS) assessment, a tester discovers that the 'ESC1' vulnerability is present. What specific misconfiguration defines ESC1 on a certificate template?
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
✓
The template allows enrollees to supply alternate subject names (SAN) and authorizes low-privileged users to enroll with client authentication EKUs.
ESC1 occurs when a certificate template permits enrollment by low-privileged users, allows supply of an alternate subject (ENROLLEE_SUPPLIES_SUBJECT), and includes client authentication EKUs.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The template grants WriteDACL permissions to authenticated users over the Certificate Authority object.
Why it's wrong here
WriteDACL on the CA object itself corresponds to ESC7 misconfigurations.
- ✗
The template publishes certificates to Active Directory user objects automatically.
Why it's wrong here
Automatic publishing is a standard feature and does not constitute ESC1 by itself.
- ✗
The template has Manager Approval enabled and requires enterprise admin signatures.
Why it's wrong here
Manager Approval mitigates certain vulnerabilities and represents ESC4/ESC6 variations rather than ESC1.
- ✓
The template allows enrollees to supply alternate subject names (SAN) and authorizes low-privileged users to enroll with client authentication EKUs.
Why this is correct
This combination allows an attacker to request a certificate for any user (e.g., Domain Admin) and authenticate as them.
About these practice questions
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed August 2026 · checked against the official EC-Council exam blueprint
This CPENT 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 CPENT exam.