Ethical Hacking Essentials Practice Test

Which of the following describes a DHCP starvation attack?

1. An attacker floods the DHCP server with requests

2. An attacker spoofs ARP replies

3. An attacker hijacks DNS responses

4. An attacker floods a switch with packets

The correct answer is: An attacker floods the DHCP server with requests

A DHCP starvation attack involves an attacker overwhelming the DHCP server by flooding it with a large number of requests. This is done by spoofing the MAC addresses in each request, making it appear as if there are many different clients requesting IP address assignments. The goal of this attack is to exhaust the pool of available IP addresses the server can allocate, preventing legitimate users from obtaining an IP address and accessing the network. Once the DHCP server runs out of addresses, the attacker can control the network traffic or execute further malicious activities. The other options describe different types of attacks that do not align with the concept of DHCP starvation. For instance, spoofing ARP replies involves intercepting traffic using ARP spoofing, which targets communication between two devices rather than aiming to exhaust IP address assignment. Similarly, hijacking DNS responses targets name resolution rather than the DHCP process itself. Lastly, flooding a switch with packets is a different method of denial of service that focuses on the switch infrastructure, not the DHCP service specifically. Each of these attacks has its own method and target, but they do not relate to the depletion of IP addresses in the DHCP server as a starvation attack does.