CompTIA PenTest+ Study Guide (2026)

CompTIA PenTest+ Study Guide 2026 – Pass on Your First Attempt

This CompTIA PenTest+ study guide covers all exam domains, key concepts, and real exam-style scenarios to help you pass on your first attempt. Learn what topics matter most, avoid common mistakes, and follow a structured plan based on the official exam blueprint.

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What should you study for the CompTIA PenTest+ exam?

To pass the CompTIA PenTest+ certification exam, you should focus on:

  • Engagement Management: Covers pre-engagement activities including scoping, legal documentation, rules of engagement, and professional reporting.
  • Reconnaissance and Enumeration: Covers passive and active information gathering, OSINT techniques, network scanning, service enumeration, and vulnerability identification.
  • Vulnerability Discovery and Analysis: Covers vulnerability scanning, manual analysis, validating findings, and assessing risk of discovered vulnerabilities.
  • Attacks and Exploits: Covers exploitation of network services, applications, wireless networks, social engineering, cloud infrastructure, and AI systems.
  • Post-Exploitation and Lateral Movement: Covers establishing persistence, privilege escalation, lateral movement, credential harvesting, and data exfiltration techniques.

The exam tests your ability to apply concepts in real scenarios, not just memorize definitions.

CompTIA PenTest+ Exam Syllabus and Topics

The CompTIA PenTest+ exam is divided into 5 domains. Each domain tests specific skills and contributes to your overall score.

Engagement Management

Covers pre-engagement activities including scoping, legal documentation, rules of engagement, and professional reporting.

13%
Weight
12
Questions
117
Marks

Scoping and Legal Agreements

  • Statement of Work (SOW) and Master Service Agreement (MSA)
  • Rules of Engagement (ROE) definition
  • Permission to attack documentation
  • Legal considerations: Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA)
  • NDA and confidentiality requirements

Reporting and Communication

  • Executive summary for non-technical stakeholders
  • Technical report: vulnerability details and evidence
  • Risk ratings: CVSS scoring and custom risk rating
  • Remediation recommendations and prioritization
  • Report handling, storage, and destruction

Reconnaissance and Enumeration

Covers passive and active information gathering, OSINT techniques, network scanning, service enumeration, and vulnerability identification.

21%
Weight
19
Questions
189
Marks

OSINT and Passive Gathering

  • DNS reconnaissance: zone transfers, WHOIS, DNS enumeration
  • OSINT tools: Maltego, Shodan, theHarvester, Recon-ng
  • Google dorks and advanced search operators
  • Social media and corporate intelligence gathering
  • Email harvesting and credential exposure discovery

Network Scanning and Enumeration

  • Nmap scanning: TCP SYN, UDP, stealth scan techniques
  • Service and version detection with Nmap
  • SMB enumeration: enum4linux, smbclient, rpcclient
  • SNMP enumeration and MIB walking
  • Web application enumeration: Nikto, dirb, gobuster
  • Active Directory enumeration: BloodHound, ldapsearch

Vulnerability Discovery and Analysis

Covers vulnerability scanning, manual analysis, validating findings, and assessing risk of discovered vulnerabilities.

17%
Weight
15
Questions
153
Marks

Automated Scanning Tools

  • Nessus and OpenVAS for vulnerability scanning
  • Web application scanners: Burp Suite, OWASP ZAP
  • Authenticated vs unauthenticated scans
  • Cloud security scanning: Prowler, Scout Suite
  • Container vulnerability scanning: Trivy, Anchore

Vulnerability Analysis

  • CVE and NVD for vulnerability research
  • CVSS v3.1 scoring: base, temporal, environmental metrics
  • False positive identification and verification
  • Manual validation of automated scan findings
  • AI and ML model vulnerability assessment

Attacks and Exploits

Covers exploitation of network services, applications, wireless networks, social engineering, cloud infrastructure, and AI systems.

35%
Weight
32
Questions
315
Marks

Network Attacks

  • Metasploit Framework for exploitation
  • Password attacks: hashcat, John the Ripper, credential stuffing
  • Man-in-the-middle attacks: Responder, Bettercap
  • Exploit databases: Exploit-DB, Searchsploit
  • Buffer overflow exploitation concepts

Web Application Attacks

  • OWASP Top 10: SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, SSRF, IDOR
  • API security testing: REST and GraphQL API attacks
  • Authentication bypass techniques
  • File inclusion: LFI and RFI exploitation
  • JWT token manipulation and OAuth misconfigurations

Wireless and Social Engineering

  • Wireless attacks: WPA2 cracking, evil twin, deauthentication
  • Aircrack-ng suite for wireless testing
  • Phishing campaigns and pretexting
  • Vishing and physical security testing

Cloud and AI Attack Techniques

  • AWS, Azure, GCP privilege escalation paths
  • Cloud metadata service exploitation (IMDS)
  • Container escape techniques
  • AI/ML model attacks: prompt injection and model manipulation
  • Supply chain attack techniques

Post-Exploitation and Lateral Movement

Covers establishing persistence, privilege escalation, lateral movement, credential harvesting, and data exfiltration techniques.

14%
Weight
12
Questions
126
Marks

Persistence and Privilege Escalation

  • Windows persistence: registry, scheduled tasks, services
  • Linux persistence: cron jobs, SUID binaries, SSH keys
  • Windows privilege escalation: token impersonation, UAC bypass
  • Linux privilege escalation: SUDO abuse, SUID/GUID exploitation

Lateral Movement and Exfiltration

  • Pass-the-hash and pass-the-ticket attacks
  • Mimikatz for credential harvesting from LSASS
  • BloodHound for Active Directory attack path analysis
  • Living off the Land (LOtL) techniques with built-in tools
  • Data exfiltration via DNS, HTTPS, and covert channels
  • Covering tracks and log manipulation
CompTIA PenTest+ study guide 2026 CompTIA PenTest+ exam syllabus CompTIA PenTest+ certification preparation how to pass CompTIA PenTest+ exam CompTIA PenTest+ exam topics and domains
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Learning Progress

Engagement Management 85%
Reconnaissance and Enumeration 92%

Practice Test Scores

95%
Latest Score
Above passing threshold

Frequently Asked Questions