312-50V11 · Question #524
Jack was attempting to fingerprint all machines in the network using the following Nmap syntax: invictus@victim_server:~$ nmap -T4 -0 10.10.0.0/24 TCP/IP fingerprinting (for OS scan) xxxxxxx xxxxxx…
The correct answer is A. OS Scan requires root privileges. Nmap's OS detection flag (-O) requires raw socket access, which is only available to root or administrator-level users on Unix/Linux systems.
Question
Jack was attempting to fingerprint all machines in the network using the following Nmap syntax:
invictus@victim_server:~$ nmap -T4 -0 10.10.0.0/24 TCP/IP fingerprinting (for OS scan) xxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxxxxx. QUITTING! Obviously, it is not going through. What is the issue here?
Options
- AOS Scan requires root privileges
- BThe nmap syntax is wrong.
- CThe outgoing TCP/IP fingerprinting is blocked by the host firewall
- DThis is a common behavior for a corrupted nmap application
How the community answered
(50 responses)- A94% (47)
- C2% (1)
- D4% (2)
Why each option
Nmap's OS detection flag (-O) requires raw socket access, which is only available to root or administrator-level users on Unix/Linux systems.
Nmap OS scan uses raw TCP/IP packet crafting and inspection to fingerprint remote operating systems, which requires elevated privileges to access raw sockets. On Linux/Unix, this means the process must run as root. The exact error 'TCP/IP fingerprinting (for OS scan) QUITTING!' is the standard nmap output when it lacks the necessary root privileges to perform the scan.
The nmap syntax itself is structurally valid - -T4 sets the timing template and -O triggers OS detection against a /24 subnet, which is correct usage.
A host firewall blocking outgoing traffic would produce timeout or filtered results per host, not an immediate privilege-related 'QUITTING' error before scanning begins.
A corrupted nmap installation would produce irregular or undefined errors, not the specific and well-known privilege-denial message shown for OS scan attempts.
Concept tested: Nmap OS scan root privilege requirement
Source: https://nmap.org/book/man-os-detection.html
Topics
Community Discussion
No community discussion yet for this question.