An attacker identified that a user and an access point are both compatible with WPA2...

The described attack is a Downgrade Security Attack. In this scenario:

The legitimate client and access point support both WPA2 and WPA3.

The attacker introduces a rogue AP that only supports WPA2.

The victim connects to this rogue AP using WPA2 (less secure) instead of WPA3.

Once downgraded, the attacker captures the handshake and attempts to crack the WPA2 encryption.

This is known as a “Downgrade Attack” or “Downgrade Negotiation Attack,” which exploits backward compatibility in security protocols.

Incorrect Options:

A. Timing-based attacks usually refer to side-channel analysis, not protocol downgrading.

B. Side-channel attacks extract info via timing, power usage, etc., not protocol negotiation.

D. Cache-based attacks exploit memory caching behavior.

Reference – CEH v13 Official Courseware:

Module 16: Hacking Wireless Networks

Section: “Wireless Encryption Attacks”

Subsection: “Downgrade Attacks (WPA3 to WPA2) and Rogue Access Points”