10 exam-style questions with answers and explanations, straight from our 1,030-question bank. Tap an answer to check yourself. When you're ready, take the scored version in the free practice test.
These 10 free CHFI questions are organized by exam domain, so you can see how each part of the Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator blueprint is tested. Reveal the answer and explanation under each question.
Domain 1: Forensic Science 15% of exam
Question 1
An examiner with authority to collect a laptop's contents finds it running with an unlocked, fully encrypted volume. No recovery key is available. Network isolation is already in place, no destructive activity is occurring, and validated live-acquisition tools are available. Which collection sequence preserves the best opportunity to examine the contents?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B - Capture RAM first, then collect accessible plaintext while the encrypted volume remains unlocked.
Question 2
A write-blocked drive was acquired into a compressed E01 image without read errors. Independent verification confirms that the decoded image data and the source sectors have identical SHA-256 digests. Hashing the E01 container file produces a different digest. How should the examiner handle this discrepancy?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D - Document the different hash scopes and proceed with a verified working copy.
Domain 2: Regulations, Policies and Ethics 10% of exam
Question 3
Two laboratories calculate identical SHA-256 digests for a transferred raw disk image. The transfer log nevertheless contains a six-hour interval with no identified custodian. During review of the evidence, what can the examiner properly conclude?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C - The content matches at the two checks; custody during the gap remains undocumented.
Domain 3: Digital Evidence 18% of exam
Question 4
The Security log on FILE-SRV contains a Microsoft-Windows-Security-Auditing event with these fields:
Event ID: 4624
SubjectUserName: FILE-SRV$
TargetUserName: j.ross
LogonType: 10
IpAddress: 10.20.4.18
What activity does this record identify?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A - j.ross established a remote-interactive session on FILE-SRV.
Question 5
A seized six-drive RAID 10 uses three striped mirror pairs: (A, B), (C, D), and (E, F). Each drive is 4 TiB. B and D are unreadable, but sector-complete images of the other four members are available and the array layout is known. Ignoring filesystem overhead, what logical capacity remains reconstructable, and why?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A - The full 12 TiB remains reconstructable: each mirror still has a readable member.
Question 6
An Android phone using file-based encryption has rebooted and has not yet been unlocked. An authorized extraction obtains device-encrypted files but cannot read a messaging database stored in credential-encrypted storage. The handset is otherwise functioning normally. Which access limitation explains this result?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D - Device-encrypted data can be available while credential-encrypted data remains locked.
Domain 4: Procedures and Methodology 17% of exam
Question 7
During forensic response at a chemical plant, an operator reports loss of cooling and confirms that the site's emergency shutdown criteria have been met. Capturing memory from the suspect controller would delay the established safe-shutdown procedure. What takes priority?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B - Allow authorized plant staff to execute the emergency procedure without forensic delay.
Domain 5: Digital Forensics 29% of exam
Question 8
Static analysis of a suspicious executable reports Shannon entropy of 7.94 bits per byte for one section. The analyst writes, 'This section is encrypted malware.' Which replacement statement accurately describes what the measurement supports?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D - High entropy is consistent with compression or encryption, not proof of malware.
Question 9
An XML upload defines an entity named host with the system identifier file:///etc/hostname. The response substitutes the server's hostname where &host; appears in the submitted document. Process telemetry attributes the file read to the XML parser, with no shell process created. Which attack mechanism accounts for these findings?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B - XML external entity expansion by the server-side parser.
Question 10
A capture of plaintext FTP traffic shows an internal workstation issuing STOR clients.zip on TCP port 21. Passive-mode negotiation assigns server port 51080, and the corresponding data connection is present in the capture. Where should the examiner reconstruct the uploaded file's contents?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C - In the client-to-server side of the data connection negotiated on TCP 51080.