Certified Penetration Testing Professional (CPENT)

The EC-Council CPENT certification is an advanced, hands-on penetration testing program that trains professionals to test enterprise networks in a live cyber range environment. Unlike multiple-choice exams, CPENT is a fully practical 24-hour performance-based exam where candidates must breach and penetrate into multi-layered networks — including IoT, OT/SCADA, Active Directory, and cloud-connected systems. It is widely regarded as one of the most challenging and respected pentesting credentials globally.

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What is the Certified Penetration Testing Professional (CPENT)?

Who Should Take This Course?

Ethical Hackers and Penetration Testers looking to advance
Red Team Operators and Security Researchers
Network Security Engineers and Consultants
CEH-certified professionals seeking the next credential
Vulnerability Assessment and Security Analysts
IT Security Professionals targeting expert-level roles
Anyone pursuing LPT (Master) status

What You Will Learn in the CPENT Course

A comprehensive curriculum covering all exam objectives with hands-on labs and real-world practice.

Advanced Network Penetration Testing

Conduct comprehensive penetration tests across complex enterprise networks.

Multi-layered network pivoting and tunnelling
Advanced scanning and enumeration in segmented networks
Exploiting network devices: routers, switches, firewalls
Bypassing Network Access Control (NAC) solutions

Active Directory and Windows Domain Attacks

Attack and compromise Windows Active Directory environments.

Kerberoasting, AS-REP Roasting, and Pass-the-Hash
DCSync, Golden Ticket, and Silver Ticket attacks
BloodHound and SharpHound for AD enumeration
Domain privilege escalation and forest trusts

Web Application and API Penetration Testing

Test web applications and REST APIs for critical vulnerabilities.

OWASP Top 10 exploitation in depth
SQL injection, SSRF, XXE, and deserialization
API authentication bypass and JWT attacks
Automated and manual fuzzing techniques

IoT and OT/SCADA Penetration Testing

Assess security of connected devices and industrial control systems.

IoT firmware analysis and emulation
MQTT, CoAP, and ZigBee protocol attacks
SCADA/ICS network reconnaissance and exploitation
Modbus and DNP3 protocol vulnerabilities

Binary Analysis and Exploit Development

Write custom exploits and bypass modern protections.

Buffer overflow and return-oriented programming (ROP)
Bypassing ASLR, DEP, and Stack Canaries
Reverse engineering binaries with Ghidra and GDB
Custom shellcode writing and encoding

Reporting, Documentation, and Post-Exploitation

Document findings professionally and cover tracks.

Professional penetration testing report writing
Evidence collection and chain of custody
Post-exploitation: lateral movement and data exfiltration
Covering tracks and clearing logs

Course Prerequisites

Pre-requisites training is free when you purchase the course from ProSupport

Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) or equivalent knowledge strongly recommended
Solid understanding of TCP/IP networking and protocols
Proficiency with Kali Linux and common pentesting tools
Familiarity with Windows Active Directory environments
Experience with scripting (Python, Bash, or PowerShell)
At least 2 years of hands-on security experience recommended

Exam Information

Everything you need to know about the CPENT certification exam.

Exam Component	Details
Exam Name	Certified Penetration Testing Professional
Exam Code	CPENT
Exam Type	100% Practical / Performance-Based (Live Cyber Range)
Total Questions	N/A — Practical targets
Passing Score	70% to pass (90%+ earns LPT Master)
Exam Duration	24 hours (or two 12-hour sessions)
Language	English
Exam Provider	EC-Council CPENT Live Range
Exam Focus	Real-world multi-layered network penetration testing across Windows, Linux, IoT, OT, and cloud environments
Exam Registration	EC-Council Exam Center (eccouncil.org/programs/certified-penetration-tester-cpent/)
Retake Policy	EC-Council retake policies apply; additional exam fee required
Certification Validity	3 years (120 ECE credits for renewal); 90%+ score earns LPT Master automatically