How would you establish a null session to a Windows host from a Windows command...

A null session in Windows is an unauthenticated connection to certain administrative shares, historically used for system enumeration. The net use command connects to a share, and the IPC$ (Inter-Process Communication) share is the standard target for null sessions, allowing access without credentials when configured to permit it.

Why C is correct:The command net use \\hostname\ipc$ "" /u:"" specifies the IPC$ share and uses empty strings for the password (first "") and username (/u:""), establishing a null session. This syntax is correct for older Windows systems (e.g., XP or 2003) where null sessions were more permissive, a topic covered in CNSP for legacy system vulnerabilities.

Why other options are incorrect:

A:Targets the c$ share (not typically used for null sessions) and uses /u:NULL, which is invalid syntax; the username must be an empty string ("").

B:Targets c$ instead of ipc$, making it incorrect for null session establishment.

D:Uses ipc$ correctly but specifies /u:NULL, which is not the proper way to denote an empty username.

References:CNSP "Windows Security Basics" (Section on Null Session Exploitation) details the use of net use with IPC$ for enumeration, noting syntax and historical vulnerabilities.