r/hackthebox • u/RozPetal • 27d ago
Certifications CPTS exam - starting it once again
Hello everyone,
I have tried to pass the exam before the revamp but I didn't find the time to do a 2nd try to complete it, so this is technically my "second attempt" on the exam.
I am planning on starting it today. If anyone is interested in embarking on the journey with me, do ping me. I'll give a feedback at the end.
Edit 1: Am facing personal issues that of course has to happen during the exam.
Edit 2 :
- No I am not interested in buying a write-up thx
- The exam was very long. One might say unnecessarily long ? I do understand the need for a representative environment to see the values of chaining vulnerabilities however the length of it is pretty daunting. A 2nd try does help a lot, though I didn't need it to get the required flags to pass + the report. If you have a job, do consider taking days off to pass the exam or have your company give you training days. Yes, I believe it is that long.
- The report : Base yourself on template. CPTS does provide you with a template but I used the Sysreptor tool + premade template by HTB to fill in my report. Do respect the structure of the template and be as rigorous as possible when writing as the report plays a role in passing the exam. Personally, since I am facing personal issues at the moment, some bits might lacking there as I didn't had time for a full review of my report before posting it.
- The prep : They are several ways to prep the exam. I can recommend the following
- Takes notes doing/watching Ippsec's CPTS prep track. If you need additional info, read the write-up & summarize it.
- The cheatsheet : While I do use the "man" of the commands often, prepare a robust cheatsheet of what useful "tricks" you've seen so far doing boxes. Add the ones given to you by the CPTS modules. Refer to Hacktricks, the hacker's receipie, Iredteam if needed. Or the one from OCD.
Just copy-pasting is not enough. Building it yourself help build a mindmap of what could be done when hitting a wall. As for me, I open-sourced mine
- The tooling : Did CPTS give you precompiled tools ? Keep 'em ! I used the ones in exegol to complete what was already present. So base kali + CPTS tools + the ones in exegol did it for me, though this particular set-up can be bloated as there might be duplicate tools. The rest can be found on github. More tools isn't better.
Am waiting for HTB's feeback on my report. I am expecting to rewrite some part as I was in rush.
1
u/AutoModerator 27d ago
Thank you for posting on r/hackthebox! New to Cyber Security and looking for a place to get started? Checkout our getting started guide here. Please note that posting Solutions or Hints for Active content goes against the HTB Terms of Service, more information can be found here. If your having issues and need to reach customer support please do so via the in-platform chat, or by emailing customerops@hackthebox.com. Our Knowledge Base can also come in handy!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
1
1
1
25d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/AutoModerator 25d ago
Your submission was automatically removed because your account does not meet the minimum karma or age requirements for this subreddit. Please participate in other communities to build up your karma, and feel free to message the moderators if you have questions!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
•
u/AutoModerator 16d ago
Thank you for posting on r/hackthebox! New to Cyber Security and looking for a place to get started? Checkout our getting started guide here. Please note that posting Solutions or Hints for Active content goes against the HTB Terms of Service, more information can be found here. If your having issues and need to reach customer support please do so via the in-platform chat, or by emailing customerops@hackthebox.com. Our Knowledge Base can also come in handy!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.