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SSCP Practice Question: During a penetration test, the tester captures…
During a penetration test, the tester captures traffic on a switch port that is part of a VLAN other than the native VLAN. The tester is able to receive traffic destined for the management VLAN. What configuration flaw is exploited?
⚠ Common exam trap
ISC2 often tests the native VLAN mismatch concept by describing a scenario where an attacker on a non-native VLAN receives management traffic, and candidates mistakenly choose options like 'VTP transparent mode' or 'STP enabled' because they confuse protocol behavior with security flaws.
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
✓
Trunk port misconfiguration with native VLAN mismatch
The scenario describes a native VLAN mismatch on a trunk port. When two switches have different native VLANs configured on a trunk, they will not tag frames for their respective native VLANs. This allows an attacker on a non-native VLAN to receive traffic destined for the management VLAN (typically VLAN 1) by sending frames with no 802.1Q tag, which the receiving switch treats as belonging to its own native VLAN, effectively bypassing VLAN segmentation.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Spanning tree protocol is enabled
Why it's wrong here
STP prevents loops, not VLAN hopping.
- ✓
Trunk port misconfiguration with native VLAN mismatch
Why this is correct
If the native VLAN on trunk matches management VLAN, frames can be double-tagged to hop VLANs.
- ✗
Port security is not enabled
Why it's wrong here
Port security limits MAC addresses, not VLAN hopping.
- ✗
DHCP snooping is disabled
Why it's wrong here
DHCP snooping prevents rogue DHCP, not VLAN hopping.
- ✗
VLAN trunking protocol (VTP) is set to transparent mode
Why it's wrong here
VTP mode does not affect VLAN hopping.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This SSCP practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISC2 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 SSCP exam.