What does a Synchronous (SYN) flood attack do?

The correct answer is D. Exceeds the limits for new Transmission Control Protocol /Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) connections. A SYN flood attack does exceed the limits for new TCP/IP connections. A SYN flood attack is a type of denial-of-service attack that sends a large number of SYN packets to a server, without completing the TCP three-way handshake. The server allocates resources for each SYN packet

Submitted by priya_blr· Mar 5, 2026Communication and Network Security

Question

What does a Synchronous (SYN) flood attack do?

Options

AForces Transmission Control Protocol /Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) connections into a reset state
BEstablishes many new Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) connections
CEmpties the queue of pending Transmission Control Protocol /Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) requests
DExceeds the limits for new Transmission Control Protocol /Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) connections

How the community answered

(17 responses)

A
6% (1)
B
6% (1)
D
88% (15)

Explanation

A SYN flood attack does exceed the limits for new TCP/IP connections. A SYN flood attack is a type of denial-of-service attack that sends a large number of SYN packets to a server, without completing the TCP three-way handshake. The server allocates resources for each SYN packet and waits for the final ACK packet, which never arrives. This consumes the server's memory and processing power, and prevents it from accepting new legitimate connections.

Topics

#SYN flood#DoS attack#TCP/IP#network attacks

Community Discussion

No community discussion yet for this question.

Full CISSP Practice