CompTIA PenTest+ Study Guide (2026) - Pass on Your First Attempt
📋 2026 Edition  ·  Updated May 2026

CompTIA PenTest+
comptia-pentest-plus Study Guide — Pass First Attempt

Complete exam coverage for the CompTIA PenTest+. Every domain, every key topic — structured so you study smart, not hard. Built around the official exam blueprint.

90
Questions
165 min
Duration
75
Passing score
5
Domains
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92%
First-attempt pass rate
47K+
Candidates prepared
4.9★
Average rating
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—%
Overall readiness (locked)
Engagement Management
—
Reconnaissance and Enumeration
—
Vulnerability Discovery and Analysis
—
Attacks and Exploits
—
Post-Exploitation and Lateral Movement
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Exam at a Glance

Everything you need to know before you start

Key facts about the CompTIA PenTest+ exam structure, format, and scoring.

🆔
comptia-pentest-plus
Exam code
📝
90 questions
Total questions
⏱
165 minutes
Duration
🎯
75
Passing score
📋
5 domains
Exam domains
📅
Valid 3 years
Certification validity
🌐
Online / In-person
Testing mode
🏆
Globally recognised
Credential type
ℹ️
Scoring method: Scaled scoring (100-900). A score of 750 or higher is required to pass. Maximum 90 questions in 165 minutes including MCQ and Performance-Based Questions (PBQs). Launched December 17, 2024; DoD 8570/8140 approved.. The exam may include unscored pilot questions — treat every question seriously.
Focus Areas

What should you study for the CompTIA PenTest+ exam?

To pass the CompTIA PenTest+ certification exam, you should focus on these core domains. The exam tests your ability to apply concepts in real-world scenarios — not just memorise definitions.

⚠️
Common mistake: Candidates memorise terminology but struggle with scenario-based questions. Focus on when to use what, not just what exists.
🔐
Engagement Management (13%)
Covers pre-engagement activities including scoping, legal documentation, rules of engagement, and professional reporting.
🏗
Reconnaissance and Enumeration (21%)
Covers passive and active information gathering, OSINT techniques, network scanning, service enumeration, and vulnerability identification.
⚡
Vulnerability Discovery and Analysis (17%)
Covers vulnerability scanning, manual analysis, validating findings, and assessing risk of discovered vulnerabilities.
💰
Attacks and Exploits (35%)
Covers exploitation of network services, applications, wireless networks, social engineering, cloud infrastructure, and AI systems.
🔄
Post-Exploitation and Lateral Movement (14%)
Covers establishing persistence, privilege escalation, lateral movement, credential harvesting, and data exfiltration techniques.
Full Syllabus

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. Click any domain to expand topics.

Engagement Management
Covers pre-engagement activities including scoping, legal documentation, rules of engagement, and professional reporting.
13% ▼
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
~12 questions
117 marks
13% of exam weight
Reconnaissance and Enumeration
Covers passive and active information gathering, OSINT techniques, network scanning, service enumeration, and vulnerability identification.
21% ▼
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
~19 questions
189 marks
21% of exam weight
Vulnerability Discovery and Analysis
Covers vulnerability scanning, manual analysis, validating findings, and assessing risk of discovered vulnerabilities.
17% ▼
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
~15 questions
153 marks
17% of exam weight
Attacks and Exploits
Covers exploitation of network services, applications, wireless networks, social engineering, cloud infrastructure, and AI systems.
35% ▼
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
~32 questions
315 marks
35% of exam weight
Post-Exploitation and Lateral Movement
Covers establishing persistence, privilege escalation, lateral movement, credential harvesting, and data exfiltration techniques.
14% ▼
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
~12 questions
126 marks
14% of exam weight
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Study Plan

CompTIA PenTest+ Structured Study Roadmap

Designed for candidates studying 1-2 hours per day. Select your timeline below.

Exam Strategy

Tips to pass CompTIA PenTest+ on your first attempt

Tactical advice beyond content knowledge — what separates candidates who pass from those who retake.

🗓
Attacks and Exploits is the dominant domain at 35% — invest the most preparation time here, particularly web application attacks, password cracking, and network exploitation techniques.
🔍
Performance-based questions simulate real tool output — practice reading Nmap scan results, interpreting Nessus reports, and analyzing Burp Suite HTTP traffic.
⏭
OWASP Top 10 is core to web application attack questions — know SQL injection (UNION-based, blind, time-based), XSS (reflected, stored, DOM), and SSRF in detail.
📊
AI attack coverage is new in PT0-003 — understand prompt injection (manipulating LLM behavior through input) and model manipulation as emerging attack vectors.
🔁
Reconnaissance order: passive first (OSINT, Shodan, WHOIS) to avoid detection, then active scanning (Nmap, vulnerability scanners) when engagement is authorized.
🧪
CVSS v3.1 base score components: Attack Vector, Attack Complexity, Privileges Required, User Interaction, Scope, Confidentiality/Integrity/Availability impact — know how each affects score.
📝
Post-exploitation lateral movement: Pass-the-Hash uses NTLM hash without knowing password; Pass-the-Ticket uses Kerberos TGT — both enable authentication without cracking passwords.
🎯
BloodHound uses graph theory to identify the shortest attack path to Domain Admin — exam questions may ask about its use in Active Directory engagements.
🗓
Always start with rules of engagement — the exam often presents scenarios where you must determine what is in-scope before describing attack methodology.
🔍
Living off the Land techniques use built-in OS tools (PowerShell, certutil, wmic, mshta) to avoid AV detection — know common LOtL binaries for both Windows and Linux.
Recommended Resources

Official and trusted study materials

Curated resources ranked by usefulness. Quality over quantity — focus on a small set of authoritative sources.

Official
Official Exam Guide
The authoritative blueprint. Know every objective before studying anything else.
→ Vendor website
Practice Tests
Edureify Practice Tests
Full-length CompTIA PenTest+ simulations with detailed per-domain analysis and explanations.
→ Start free test
Video Course
Structured Video Course
Pick one highly-rated course and complete it end-to-end before switching resources.
With edureify Convert Tutorial to AI Tutor
Reference
Domain Cheat Sheets
One-page summaries for each CompTIA PenTest+ domain — ideal for last-week revision.
→ Get free Cheat Sheet
Community
Study Groups & Forums
Reddit r/certifications and exam-specific Discord servers for peer support and tips.
→ Reddit / Discord
AI Tutor
Edureify AI Mentor
Get instant answers to CompTIA PenTest+ concepts, domain-level weak-area coaching, and adaptive questions.
→ Try free
⚠️
Avoid brain dumps. Sites selling "real exam questions" violate most vendor NDAs and are legally risky. Questions rotate regularly — brain dumps lead to overconfidence on outdated material and a higher retake rate.
Reviews

What candidates say after passing

★★★★★
"Passed CompTIA PenTest+ on my first attempt after 5 weeks. The domain-level diagnostic showed me exactly where my gaps were — I stopped wasting time on topics I already knew."
Rahul S.
Solutions Architect, Bangalore
★★★★★
"The structured study plan kept me on track. I tried studying on my own for 3 months and failed. With Edureify's roadmap I passed in 6 weeks."
Priya M.
Cloud Engineer, Mumbai
★★★★★
"The AI mentor was like having a personal tutor available at 2am. Every concept I didn't understand was explained until I got it. Invaluable for the Engagement Management domain."
David K.
DevOps Engineer, London
FAQ

Frequently asked questions about CompTIA PenTest+

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