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EC-Council

312-50V12 · Question #161

A Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) is given the task to perform an LDAP enumeration on a target system. The system is secured and accepts connections only on secure LDAP. The CEH uses Python for the enu

The correct answer is C. The secure LDAP connection was not properly initialized due to a lack of 'use_ssl = True' in the. The ethical hacker was unable to fetch LDAP details from a secure LDAP system because the Python script likely failed to properly initialize the secure connection, even after establishing a basic network connection.

Submitted by lukas.cz· Mar 4, 2026Reconnaissance Techniques

Question

A Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) is given the task to perform an LDAP enumeration on a target system. The system is secured and accepts connections only on secure LDAP. The CEH uses Python for the enumeration process. After successfully installing LDAP and establishing a connection with the target, he attempts to fetch details like the domain name and naming context but is unable to receive the expected response. Considering the circumstances, which of the following is the most plausible reason for this situation?

Options

  • AThe system failed to establish a connection due to an incorrect port number.
  • BThe enumeration process was blocked by the target system's intrusion detection system.
  • CThe secure LDAP connection was not properly initialized due to a lack of 'use_ssl = True' in the
  • DThe Python version installed on the CEH's machine is incompatible with the Idap3 library.

How the community answered

(46 responses)
  • A
    4% (2)
  • B
    15% (7)
  • C
    72% (33)
  • D
    9% (4)

Why each option

The ethical hacker was unable to fetch LDAP details from a secure LDAP system because the Python script likely failed to properly initialize the secure connection, even after establishing a basic network connection.

AThe system failed to establish a connection due to an incorrect port number.

The question explicitly states that the CEH successfully established a connection, negating the possibility of a failed connection due to an incorrect port number.

BThe enumeration process was blocked by the target system's intrusion detection system.

While an IDS could block enumeration, the scenario specifically highlights the requirement for secure LDAP and a common programmatic oversight, making it a more direct and plausible technical reason than a generic IDS block.

CThe secure LDAP connection was not properly initialized due to a lack of 'use_ssl = True' in theCorrect

The target system only accepts secure LDAP connections (LDAPS), which requires all LDAP traffic to be encrypted using SSL/TLS; without explicitly setting `use_ssl = True` in the `ldap3` library, the client would attempt insecure communication, causing subsequent LDAP operations like fetching details to fail despite an initial TCP connection.

DThe Python version installed on the CEH's machine is incompatible with the Idap3 library.

The successful establishment of a connection indicates basic compatibility between the Python version and the `ldap3` library; the issue is with the *secure* aspect of the connection, not a fundamental library incompatibility.

Concept tested: Secure LDAP (LDAPS) client configuration

Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/identity/enable-ldap-over-ssl-3rd-party-certification-authority

Topics

#LDAP enumeration#secure LDAP#Python scripting#SSL/TLS

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