CISSP Practice Exam 2026 – Complete Prep Guide

The 'Ping of Death' attack occurs when an attacker sends a malformed ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) Echo Request packet that is larger than the maximum allowed size specified by the IP protocol standards. Traditionally, the maximum size for an ICMP packet is 65,535 bytes, but by fragmenting the packets inappropriately or manipulating the data, an attacker could create packets that exceed this limit when reassembled at the target host, which leads to crashes, freezes, or system errors on the receiving system.

This method exploits vulnerabilities in how operating systems handle these oversized packets. When the target system receives this improperly formed packet, its buffer may overflow, resulting in a denial of service condition or even a system crash, as the operating system is unable to process the malformed data correctly.

The other options refer to different types of attacks. Flooding with excessive ICMP packets is characteristic of a denial-of-service attack, but it does not specifically relate to the 'Ping of Death.' Unauthorized access to disrupt services is indicative of hacking-related activities that involve gaining foothold into a network rather than manipulating ICMP packets. Lastly, intercepting and manipulating ICMP messages describes a different kind of attack that focuses on data manipulation and privacy concerns rather than the substantive