CPENT Network And Perimeter Exploitation Practice Question
A penetration tester is performing network reconnaissance against a hardened target and needs to discover live hosts while avoiding ping probes. Which Nmap option tells Nmap not to perform host discovery before scanning ports, ensuring every target IP is fully port-scanned?
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
✓
-Pn
The -Pn option disables host discovery, forcing Nmap to proceed with port scanning every specified IP address as if it were online.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
-R
Why it's wrong here
-R forces DNS resolution for all targets.
- ✗
-p-
Why it's wrong here
-p- specifies scanning all 65,535 TCP ports.
- ✓
-Pn
Why this is correct
-Pn skips the host discovery phase entirely.
- ✗
-n
Why it's wrong here
-n disables DNS name resolution.
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every CPENT question from scratch — 276 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
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.