312-50V9 · Question #498
A hacker searches in Google for filetype:pcf to find Cisco VPN config files. Those files may contain connectivity passwords that can be decoded with which of the following?
The correct answer is C. Cain and Abel. Cisco VPN PCF files store group passwords using a weak XOR-based obfuscation that Cain and Abel can reverse with its built-in Cisco VPN password decoder.
Question
A hacker searches in Google for filetype:pcf to find Cisco VPN config files. Those files may contain connectivity passwords that can be decoded with which of the following?
Options
- ACupp
- BNessus
- CCain and Abel
- DJohn The Ripper Pro
How the community answered
(31 responses)- A3% (1)
- C94% (29)
- D3% (1)
Why each option
Cisco VPN PCF files store group passwords using a weak XOR-based obfuscation that Cain and Abel can reverse with its built-in Cisco VPN password decoder.
CUPP (Common User Passwords Profiler) is a targeted wordlist generator for brute-force campaigns and has no capability to decode Cisco PCF password obfuscation.
Nessus is a vulnerability and configuration scanner used to identify network weaknesses, not a tool for decoding or extracting stored credentials.
Cain and Abel includes a dedicated Cisco VPN client password decoder that reverses the simple XOR-based encoding Cisco uses to store group passwords in PCF (Profile Configuration File) files. Because this is obfuscation rather than true encryption, the decoded password is immediately usable without brute-force cracking.
John the Ripper Pro is a hash-cracking tool that uses brute-force and dictionary attacks against password hashes, and is not designed to reverse Cisco's PCF obfuscation scheme.
Concept tested: Cisco VPN PCF file credential exposure and decoding
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