ITPEC FE Morning April 2020 Question 38
Which of the following activities targets the DHCP server and exhausts all its available IP address pool so that it cannot provide any IP addresses to its clients?
Explanation
DHCP starvation — the attacker requests addresses under many fake MAC addresses until the server's pool is empty.
Each fake DHCP request leases one address, so the pool runs out and legitimate clients get none: a denial of service. Attackers often follow it with a rogue DHCP server, which the starved clients then accept.
Answer (d)
Why not others:
- •(a) DHCP MAC filtering — a defence: the server answers only clients whose MAC addresses are allowed
- •(b) DHCP snooping — a switch defence that drops DHCP server replies arriving on untrusted ports and can limit request rates
- •(c) DHCP spoofing — the attacker runs a rogue DHCP server that hands clients a false gateway or DNS server; it impersonates the server rather than exhausting it
Key rule: Starvation exhausts the address pool; spoofing impersonates the server. Port security and DHCP snooping counter both.
Security · AI-written, may contain errors
This question comes from an official ITPEC past paper. ITPEC Practice is an independent study tool and is not affiliated with ITPEC. See the official FE past-paper collection or Report an issue.