A penetration tester is conducting an assessment against a group of publicly available web servers and notices a number of TCP resets returning from one of the web servers. Which of the following is MOST likely causing the TCP resets to occur during the assessment?
A Web Application Firewall (WAF) is designed to protect web applications by monitoring and filtering HTTP traffic. When a WAF detects malicious activity, it can reset the TCP connection to terminate the potentially harmful session. This would lead to TCP reset packets being observed during a penetration test if the traffic is flagged as malicious by the WAF.
A Web Application Firewall (WAF) can be configured to reset connections to a client if the traffic is deemed malicious. When a penetration tester sends requests to a web server that are flagged by the WAF, the WAF will reset the connection, resulting in TCP resets.
The MOST likely cause of the TCP resets occurring during the assessment is that the web server is behind a load balancer. Load balancers use TCP reset packets to balance the load across multiple systems in order to ensure optimal performance. It is unlikely that the web server is using a WAF, as WAFs do not typically respond with TCP reset packets. Instead, they respond with HTTP responses such as redirects or block pages.
going for a as well
aaaaaaaaaaa
A is correct answer A Web Application Firewall (WAF) is designed to monitor, filter or block traffic to a web application. A WAF will monitor incoming and outgoing traffic from a web application and is often used to protect web servers from attacks such as SQL Injection, Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), and other forms of attacks. If a WAF detects an attack, it will often reset the TCP connection, causing the connection to be terminated. As a result, a penetration tester may see TCP resets when a WAF is present. Therefore, the most likely reason for the TCP resets returning from the web server is that the web server is using a WAF.
A answer is correct
A. The web server is using a WAF: • A Web Application Firewall (WAF) is designed to protect web applications by monitoring and filtering HTTP traffic. WAFs can be configured to reset TCP connections that it identifies as malicious or suspicious. This behavior often results in TCP reset packets being sent to terminate the connection.
Not C. The web server is redirecting the requests: • Redirecting requests would result in HTTP 3xx status codes, not TCP resets. Redirects are a normal part of web server operations for URL changes or HTTP to HTTPS transitions, but they do not cause TCP connections to be reset.
A Web Application Firewall (WAF) is designed to protect web applications from various attacks, including those initiated by penetration testers. It analyzes incoming requests and may terminate or reset connections when it detects suspicious or malicious activity. This includes resetting TCP connections when it identifies potentially harmful requests or traffic patterns.
A. The web server is using a WAF. A Web Application Firewall is designed to monitor, filter, and block HTTP requests based on rules, signatures, or behaviors that are indicative of web application attacks. If the WAF detects something that violates its rules (such as a penetration testing activity), it can respond with a TCP reset to terminate the connection.
It's hard to give a firm but general answer, because every possible perversion has been visited on TCP since its inception, and all sorts of people might be inserting RSTs in an attempt to block traffic. (Some 'national firewalls' work like this, for example.)