CompTIA: Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP) Exam Prep

Answer: B - When a program receives more data than the amount it is designed to receive, a buffer overflow results.

Key Takeaway: Buffer overflows occur when an application receives more data than it is programmed to accept. Buffer overflows can be triggered by inputs that are designed to execute code or alter the way the program operates. A buffer overflow occurs when data written to a buffer corrupt data values in memory addresses adjacent to the allocated buffer due to insufficient bounds checking. This commonly occurs in languages such as C or C++ that does not include automated bounds checking when copying data from one buffer to another.