Joe, a cybersecurity analyst at XYZ-FinTech, has been assigned to perform a quarterly vulnerability assessment...

The correct answer is Host-based Scanning. CEH vulnerability assessment material explains that host-based scanning focuses on individual systems such as servers, desktops, and workstations, and is intended to discover local security weaknesses including file permissions, registry permissions, patch issues, configuration errors, installed software problems, and operating-system-level exposures. The question explicitly mentions Windows servers and workstations, valid logins to each device, and inspection targets such as registry settings and local file permissions. Those are classic indicators of host-based scanning. Network-based scanning would focus more on exposed network services, listening ports, protocol behavior, and remotely visible vulnerabilities. External scanning is concerned with internet-facing exposure from outside the organization. Application scanning is too narrow because the scenario is not limited to a specific software application but instead covers broad system-level posture. CEH guidance often notes that host-based vulnerability scans may be credentialed so the scanner can inspect the internal configuration of each machine in detail. Because the assessment is centered on system-specific misconfigurations and local security settings across endpoints and servers, host-based scanning is the best classification.