Which tools are used to discover and identify previously unknown vulnerabilities in a system?

• A. Host-Based Vulnerability Assessment Tools
• B. Depth Assessment Tools
• C. Credentialed Assessment
• D. Non-Credentialed Assessment

Answer: (A)

To uncover vulnerabilities that aren’t visible from outside, host-based vulnerability assessment tools examine the actual state of a host. They run on or into the target system with appropriate access and inspect what’s installed, how it’s configured, patch levels, user rights, and service settings. By comparing the host’s current setup against up-to-date vulnerability databases and hardening benchmarks, these tools reveal weaknesses that a network-only scan might miss, including local misconfigurations and missing patches that could lead to exploitation. Credentialed vs non-credentialed assessments describe whether the scanner has valid access to inspect deeper system details, but the tool category focused on discovering unknown host-specific vulnerabilities is host-based vulnerability assessment.