GCIH · Question #212
Which of the following statements about smurf is true?
The correct answer is B. It is an ICMP attack that involves spoofing and flooding. The smurf attack is an ICMP-based DoS attack that amplifies traffic by spoofing the victim's IP as the source of broadcast ping requests, causing all network hosts to flood the victim with replies.
Question
Which of the following statements about smurf is true?
Options
- AIt is a UDP attack that involves spoofing and flooding.
- BIt is an ICMP attack that involves spoofing and flooding.
- CIt is an attack with IP fragments that cannot be reassembled.
- DIt is a denial of service (DoS) attack that leaves TCP ports open.
How the community answered
(18 responses)- B89% (16)
- C6% (1)
- D6% (1)
Why each option
The smurf attack is an ICMP-based DoS attack that amplifies traffic by spoofing the victim's IP as the source of broadcast ping requests, causing all network hosts to flood the victim with replies.
The smurf attack uses ICMP echo requests, not UDP; a UDP-based spoofing and flooding variant is known as the fraggle attack, which is a distinct attack type.
A smurf attack sends ICMP echo request packets with the victim's spoofed source IP to a subnet's broadcast address, causing every host on that network to send an ICMP echo reply back to the victim. The combination of IP address spoofing and ICMP broadcast flooding creates a significant traffic amplification effect that overwhelms the victim's network resources.
Sending IP fragments that cannot be reassembled by the target is the defining characteristic of the Teardrop attack, not the smurf attack.
Leaving TCP ports open in a half-open state is associated with a SYN flood attack; the smurf attack is ICMP-based and does not involve TCP port state manipulation.
Concept tested: Smurf ICMP broadcast amplification DoS attack mechanics
Source: https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/alerts/2000/02/09/smurf-ip-denial-service-attacks
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