Which of the following can be used to compromise a system that is running an RTOS?

Question

Options

• ACross-site scripting
• BMemory injection
• CReplay attack
• DRansomware

• A
  5% (1)
• B
  86% (19)
• D
  9% (2)

Explanation

Memory injection is correct because RTOS (Real-Time Operating System) environments - common in embedded systems, industrial controllers, and IoT devices - are typically written in C/C++ and often lack modern memory protection mechanisms like ASLR or DEP/NX, making them vulnerable to buffer overflows, heap spraying, and direct code injection into memory.

Cross-site scripting (A) is a web application attack that exploits browsers and DOM rendering - RTOS devices don't run browsers or serve web pages in that sense, so XSS has no attack surface here. Replay attacks (C) target network authentication protocols by retransmitting captured packets; while they can disrupt RTOS communication, they don't directly compromise the OS itself. Ransomware (D) requires a general-purpose OS with a file system and sufficient compute resources - RTOS devices typically have neither, and ransomware cannot execute in that constrained environment.

Memory tip: Associate RTOS with "No Memory Protection" - the same performance-first design that makes RTOS fast (minimal overhead, no MMU isolation) is exactly what makes memory injection its Achilles' heel.

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