A penetration tester performs an unauthenticated vulnerability scan and receives a result flagging a service as vulnerable to a known CVE. Before attempting exploitation, what step should the tester take to reduce false positives?

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B. Validate the finding by manually verifying the service version and checking if the vulnerable code path exists. Unauthenticated vulnerability scanners often generate false positives because they infer vulnerability based on version banners rather than direct confirmation of vulnerable code. Manual validation — verifying the actual version number, reviewing the CVE details, and confirming the vulnerable configuration or code path exists — ensures findings are accurate before exploitation attempts are made.

A penetration tester performs an unauthenticated vulnerability scan and receives a result flagging a service as vulnerable to a known CVE. Before attempting exploitation, what step should the tester take to reduce false positives?

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