CPENT Network And Perimeter Exploitation Practice Question
An attacker wants to bypass egress filtering on a restricted network by encapsulating TCP packets inside ICMP echo request payloads. Which open-source tunneling utility is designed specifically for this purpose?
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
✓
Ptunnel
Ptunnel (Ping Tunnel) is a specialized application that allows tunneling TCP connections reliably through ICMP echo request and reply packets.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Socat
Why it's wrong here
Socat supports various stream relays but does not natively encapsulate TCP into ICMP payloads.
- ✗
Netcat
Why it's wrong here
Netcat cannot tunnel over ICMP packets.
- ✓
Ptunnel
Why this is correct
Ptunnel is designed to tunnel reliable TCP connections over ICMP packets.
- ✗
Iodine
Why it's wrong here
Iodine tunnels IPv4 data through DNS server queries.
Visual reference
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every CPENT question from scratch — 274 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.