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SSCP Practice Question: Which TWO of the following are effective measures…
Which TWO of the following are effective measures to prevent buffer overflow attacks in a custom-developed application?
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
✓
Input validation
Input validation helps ensure data fits within buffer limits, and stack canaries detect and prevent stack-based buffer overflows. Using unpatched libraries increases vulnerability; disabling ASLR makes exploitation easier; running with least privilege limits damage but does not prevent the overflow itself.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Input validation
Why this is correct
Validating input length and content can prevent buffer overflows by rejecting oversized or malformed data.
- ✗
Using unpatched third-party libraries
Why it's wrong here
Unpatched libraries may contain known buffer overflow vulnerabilities, increasing risk rather than preventing it.
- ✗
Running the application with least privilege
Why it's wrong here
Least privilege reduces the impact of a successful exploit but does not prevent buffer overflows from occurring.
- ✗
Disabling ASLR
Why it's wrong here
Disabling ASLR removes address space layout randomisation, which is a defence against return-oriented programming and code-reuse attacks, not a direct prevention of buffer overflows themselves. It is tempting because ASLR is a common memory protection, and disabling it would seem to weaken security generally; however, in a scenario where an attacker has already achieved code execution via a buffer overflow, ASLR makes exploitation harder, but it does not stop the overflow from occurring in the first place.
- ✓
Stack canaries
Why this is correct
Stack canaries are runtime guards that detect stack buffer overflows before they cause harm.
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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.