CVA Study Guide 2026

A router is a network device that forwards data packets between different computer networks. It operates at Layer 3 (the network layer) of the OSI model, using IP addresses to determine the best path for data transmission. Routers are essential for connecting local area networks (LANs) to wide area networks (WANs), such as the internet, enabling communication across disparate network segments.

Enabling anonymous authentication on the Kubernetes API server allows unauthenticated users to interact with the cluster, potentially executing privileged operations.

Serverless resource exhaustion attacks exploit event-driven architectures to trigger cascading function invocations, causing denial of service or unexpected cost escalation.

Local security checks (LSC) use credentials to log into a system and compare installed software versions against the latest vendor patches to identify missing updates.

Demonstrating actual session hijacking via XSS — stealing a session cookie and using it to authenticate as the victim — proves the real-world impact far more effectively than a simple alert popup.

Penetration testing, often called 'pen testing,' is a simulated cyberattack against a computer system, network, or web application to check for exploitable vulnerabilities. Unlike vulnerability scanning, it actively attempts to exploit identified weaknesses to demonstrate the potential impact of a real attack. This provides a deeper understanding of an organization's security posture from an attacker's perspective.