While performing the scanning phase of a penetration test, the penetration tester runs the following command:
nmap -n -vv -sV -p- 10.10.10.23-28
After the Nmap scan is finished, the penetration tester notices all hosts seem to be down. Which of the following options should the penetration tester try NEXT?
If all hosts seem to be down after an Nmap scan, the penetration tester should consider the possibility that the hosts are configured to ignore or block ICMP requests, which can make them appear offline. Using the -Pn option tells Nmap to skip the host discovery phase and treats all the hosts as if they are up, proceeding directly to the port scanning phase. This is useful in situations where ICMP requests or other discovery probes are being filtered or blocked by a firewall, ensuring that the scan can still gather information about the open ports on the target hosts.
The answer is B. -Pn flag is making the nmap scan to not verify using ICMP request and therefore performs the scan on the target.
This option skips the host discovery phase. Normally, Nmap first pings hosts to see if they are up before scanning them. If hosts are configured to ignore or block ICMP requests (pings), they might appear down even if they are not. -Pn forces Nmap to assume the hosts are up and proceed with the scan.
C. -sn The -sn option in Nmap is used for host discovery and doesn't perform port scanning. It's often referred to as a "ping scan" and can help determine which hosts are online without conducting a full port scan. This can be useful when hosts are not responding to the initial scan or appear to be down.
No, it's B. -Pn tells Nmap to skip the discovery stage and treat all hosts as if they were online. This is useful when scanning hosts that are configured to ignore pings or other discovery probes.
B. -Pn: This option tells Nmap to skip the host discovery step and treat all hosts as up, directly proceeding to the port scanning phase. This is useful when ICMP requests (ping) are being blocked by a firewall, causing Nmap to incorrectly assume that hosts are down. A. -sU: This option enables UDP scan. While useful for finding open UDP ports, it does not address the issue of hosts appearing down, which is likely related to ICMP requests being blocked. C. -sn: This option performs a ping scan (host discovery only) without port scanning. This can confirm if hosts are reachable, but if ICMP is blocked, it won’t provide new insights beyond the original scan. D. -sS: This option performs a TCP SYN scan, which is a stealthier type of scan. However, if hosts are already being reported as down, this won’t change the outcome unless the host discovery issue is resolved.
The -Pn option in Nmap skips the host discovery phase, treating all hosts as if they are online. This is useful when hosts appear down due to ICMP blocking or other filtering mechanisms that prevent the discovery of active hosts. Using -Pn forces Nmap to attempt the scan on the specified ports of the target IP addresses, regardless of the initial host discovery results.
-Pn is useful when host is filtering ICMP pkts.
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C. -sn