In an XMAS scan where most ports do not respond, in what state are these ports?

• A. Filtered
• B. Closed
• C. Open
• D. Stealth

Answer: (C)

In XMAS scans, a port that receives no reply to the probe is interpreted as open. This scanning method sends a TCP packet with FIN, PSH, and URG flags; open ports typically ignore such unsolicited traffic and do not generate a response, while closed ports usually reply with a RST to indicate they are not accepting connections. Filtered ports, on the other hand, often drop the packets and also yield no response, but the convention for this specific scan type is that nonresponding ports are considered open. So, ports that do not respond in an XMAS scan are regarded as open.