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Difficulty: MediumLog Analysis and SIEM Management

A security analyst is reviewing the following web server access log snippet captured by an enterprise SIEM during a routine alert review:

192.168.1.45 - - [27/Jul/2026:14:32:10 +0000] "GET /login.php HTTP/1.1" 200 4502
192.168.1.45 - - [27/Jul/2026:14:32:12 +0000] "POST /login.php HTTP/1.1" 401 1240
192.168.1.45 - - [27/Jul/2026:14:32:15 +0000] "POST /login.php HTTP/1.1" 401 1240
192.168.1.45 - - [27/Jul/2026:14:32:18 +0000] "POST /login.php HTTP/1.1" 200 5830
192.168.1.45 - - [27/Jul/2026:14:32:25 +0000] "GET /admin/db_export.php?id=1%20OR%201=1 HTTP/1.1" 403 342

Based on the web server log snippet provided, which of the following statements correctly interprets the sequence of security events?

  1. The client successfully authenticated after two failed attempts, but was subsequently blocked by authorization controls when requesting an administrative resource.Answer
  2. B
    The client failed to authenticate to the server because the final request returned a credential failure status code.
  3. C
    The log telemetry indicates that the client successfully executed a stored cross-site scripting attack against the database endpoint.
  4. D
    The SIEM correlation rule misidentified the traffic because the timestamps indicate out-of-order packet delivery without any valid login session.

Answer

The client successfully authenticated after two failed attempts, but was subsequently blocked by authorization controls when requesting an administrative resource.
The log entries record two failed authentication attempts (HTTP 401) followed by a successful login response (HTTP 200). Subsequently, the client attempted to access an administrative endpoint containing a SQL injection syntax pattern, which triggered an HTTP 403 Forbidden response. HTTP 403 demonstrates that authorization controls effectively restricted access to the protected administrative resource.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze HTTP response status codes for authentication requests
Two consecutive POST requests to /login.php returned HTTP 401 (Unauthorized), followed by a third POST request returning HTTP 200 (OK).
HTTP 401 indicates failed identity verification (authentication failure), whereas HTTP 200 confirms successful authentication.
2
Examine post-authentication request payload and response status code
The request to /admin/db_export.php included a SQL injection pattern (id=1 OR 1=1) and returned HTTP 403 (Forbidden).
HTTP 403 confirms that the user was authenticated but lacked authorization permissions to access the administrative resource.

Key Concept

Log analysis and correlation of HTTP status codes to differentiate between authentication failures (HTTP 401) and authorization denials (HTTP 403).
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Topics

Log Analysis and SIEM Management

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