GCIH · Question #246
In which of the following DoS attacks does an attacker send an ICMP packet larger than 65,536 bytes to the target system?
The correct answer is A. Ping of death. The Ping of Death attack exploits the maximum IP packet size limit by sending an oversized ICMP packet to crash or freeze the target system.
Question
In which of the following DoS attacks does an attacker send an ICMP packet larger than 65,536 bytes to the target system?
Options
- APing of death
- BJolt
- CFraggle
- DTeardrop
How the community answered
(43 responses)- A91% (39)
- B5% (2)
- C2% (1)
- D2% (1)
Why each option
The Ping of Death attack exploits the maximum IP packet size limit by sending an oversized ICMP packet to crash or freeze the target system.
Ping of Death involves crafting an ICMP echo request packet that exceeds the maximum allowable IP packet size of 65,535 bytes. When the target system attempts to reassemble the fragmented oversized packet, it causes a buffer overflow, leading to crashes, freezes, or reboots. This is the defining characteristic that distinguishes it from other ICMP-based DoS attacks.
Jolt is a DoS attack that sends a stream of fragmented ICMP packets designed so that they cannot be properly reassembled, targeting specific OS implementations, not a single oversized packet.
Fraggle is a UDP-based amplification attack that spoofs the victim's IP and sends packets to a broadcast address, not an oversized ICMP packet attack.
Teardrop sends IP fragments with malformed, overlapping offset values causing the target OS to fail during packet reassembly, which is distinct from sending a single oversized ICMP packet.
Concept tested: Ping of Death ICMP oversized packet DoS
Source: https://www.cisa.gov/uscert/ncas/tips/ST04-015
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