int main(char* argc, char** argv) { 
    char cmd[CMD_MAX] = "/usr/bin/cat "; 
    strcat(cmd, argv[1]); 
    system(cmd); 
}

Code is vulnerable to buffer overflow attack and

technology security

  1. DNS Spoofing

  2. Command Injection

  3. Path Traversal

  4. Both 2 and 3

Show answer
Correct Option: D

AI Explanation

To answer this question, you need to understand the concept of buffer overflow and the potential vulnerabilities it can create.

In the given code snippet, there is a function named main that takes two parameters, char* argc and char** argv. The code initializes a character array cmd with a fixed size of CMD_MAX and assigns a string /usr/bin/cat to it.

The strcat function is then used to concatenate the string in argv[1] to the end of cmd. This means that the code is assuming that argv[1] contains a valid string and blindly appending it to cmd without any bounds checking.

This creates a vulnerability known as buffer overflow. If the length of argv[1] is longer than the available space in cmd, it will result in writing beyond the bounds of cmd. An attacker can take advantage of this vulnerability to inject malicious code or overwrite critical data.

Now let's go through each option to understand why it is correct or incorrect:

Option A) DNS Spoofing - This option is incorrect. DNS spoofing is a technique used to manipulate the resolution of domain names to IP addresses. It is unrelated to the buffer overflow vulnerability present in the code.

Option B) Command Injection - This option is correct. The buffer overflow vulnerability in the code allows an attacker to manipulate the argv[1] input and inject additional commands that will be executed by the system function. This can lead to unauthorized execution of commands on the system.

Option C) Path Traversal - This option is incorrect. Path traversal refers to a vulnerability where an attacker can access files or directories outside of the intended directory. It is unrelated to the buffer overflow vulnerability present in the code.

Option D) Both 2 and 3 - This option is correct. The code is vulnerable to a buffer overflow attack, which can lead to command injection (option 2) and potentially path traversal (option 3) if the manipulated input allows the attacker to traverse directories.

The correct answer is option D. This option is correct because the code is vulnerable to both command injection and potentially path traversal attacks due to the buffer overflow vulnerability.

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