Privilege Escalation Lateral Movement And Post Exploitation →easyMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

CPENT Practice Question: Privilege Escalation Lateral Movement And Post Exploitation

A penetration tester has compromised a Linux server and wants to verify if the kernel is vulnerable to a known local privilege escalation exploit (such as Dirty COW). Which command should the tester run to check the exact Linux kernel version?

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

✓

uname -r

The command uname -r displays the specific kernel release version, which is critical for identifying applicable kernel-level vulnerabilities.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

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

✓
uname -r
Why this is correct
Correct because uname -r outputs the kernel release version needed for vulnerability matching.
✗
whoami
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect because whoami displays the current logged-in username.
✗
env
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect because env displays current shell environment variables.
✗
cat /etc/issue
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect because /etc/issue shows the distribution release text, not the active kernel version.

About these practice questions

This CPENT question is part of Courseiva's 274-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →

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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

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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.