Which finding involves extracting FTP/SFTP credentials from a plaintext file opened in Sublime Text?

Which finding involves extracting FTP/SFTP credentials from a plaintext file opened in Sublime Text?

• A. Scanning a website with a vulnerability scanner
• B. Extracting FTP/SFTP passwords from a Sublime Text project file
• C. Enumerating subdomains with brute force
• D. Exploiting a SQL injection

Answer: (B)

The key idea here is credential exposure from insecure storage. When sensitive data like FTP or SFTP passwords are kept in plain text within files that a developer might open in an editor, someone who has access to that project can directly read and copy those credentials. Opening a Sublime Text project file and seeing plain-text credentials is a classic example of how secrets can leak if they’re not protected properly. This is why the action of extracting FTP/SFTP passwords from a Sublime Text project file is the exact scenario described. The other activities describe different attack paths: scanning for vulnerabilities, brute-forcing subdomains, or exploiting SQL injection. Those techniques target weaknesses in systems, domains, or databases rather than simply reading credentials from a local plaintext file opened in an editor.

The key idea here is credential exposure from insecure storage. When sensitive data like FTP or SFTP passwords are kept in plain text within files that a developer might open in an editor, someone who has access to that project can directly read and copy those credentials. Opening a Sublime Text project file and seeing plain-text credentials is a classic example of how secrets can leak if they’re not protected properly. This is why the action of extracting FTP/SFTP passwords from a Sublime Text project file is the exact scenario described.

The other activities describe different attack paths: scanning for vulnerabilities, brute-forcing subdomains, or exploiting SQL injection. Those techniques target weaknesses in systems, domains, or databases rather than simply reading credentials from a local plaintext file opened in an editor.