PENTEST+ Study Guide 2026
Everything you need to pass the PENTEST+ exam in one place: the exam format, every topic to study, real practice questions with explanations, flashcards, and full-length practice tests. Free, no sign-up needed.
PENTEST+ exam key facts
- The CompTIA PenTest+ (PT0-003) exam has a maximum of 90 questions, including multiple-choice and performance-based questions. Source
- The CompTIA PenTest+ (PT0-003) exam lasts 165 minutes. Source
- To pass the CompTIA PenTest+ (PT0-003) exam, you need a score of 750 on a scale of 100 to 900. Source
- A CompTIA PenTest+ exam voucher costs $439 USD in CompTIA's US store, and you have 12 months from purchase to take the exam. Source
- If you fail CompTIA PenTest+, you can retake it right away the second time, but you must wait at least 14 calendar days before a third or later attempt. Source
- CompTIA PenTest+ certification expires three years from the date you earn it and must be renewed before then. Source
📋 PENTEST+ Exam Format at a Glance
📚 PENTEST+ Topics to Study (36)
✍️ Sample PENTEST+ Questions & Answers
1. Which set of DNS records is critical for organizations to configure to defend against email spoofing used in phishing?
SPF validates sending IP addresses, DKIM adds cryptographic signatures to emails, and DMARC enforces policy — together they significantly reduce domain spoofing in phishing.
2. An attacker sends an email appearing to come from an executive asking an employee to wire funds immediately. Which social engineering technique is this?
Business Email Compromise (BEC) involves impersonating executives or vendors to trick employees into transferring money or sensitive data.
3. What is the primary purpose of defining the target audience in a penetration test report?
Understanding the target audience allows the report to be written at an appropriate technical level, making findings actionable for executives or technical staff.
4. What is 'shoulder surfing' as a physical security attack?
Shoulder surfing involves physically positioning close enough to observe a target's screen, keyboard input, or documents to capture sensitive information without any technical tools.
5. Which document formally authorizes a penetration tester to perform testing activities and provides legal protection?
A get-out-of-jail-free letter (authorization letter) from the client explicitly grants permission to test and provides legal protection if the tester is questioned by law enforcement.
6. What does token impersonation allow an attacker to do in a Windows post-exploitation scenario?
Token impersonation steals authentication tokens from other logged-in users to assume their privileges without needing their plaintext password.
🎯 Free PENTEST+ Practice Tests
📖 PENTEST+ Guides & Articles
What Practice Test Geeks adds beyond an AI chat for PenTest+
An AI chatbot can quiz you, but it can't reproduce the exam conditions or keep your record. Here you get:
- A timed, full-length PenTest+ mock exam — 90 questions in 165 minutes with a 83% pass mark, modeled on the official exam's question count and time limit, followed by a score report broken down by exam domain.
- A fixed PenTest+ question bank: the same test every attempt, so your score is comparable from one try to the next instead of changing with every regenerated quiz.
- Progress saved on your device: completed tests, scores and missed questions stay in My Progress, so you can retake only what you got wrong.
- A printable PenTest+ cheat sheet you can print or save as a PDF.
- PenTest+ flashcards built from the same question bank.
- Free PenTest+ practice tests with the correct answer shown after each question.
How this page was made: written with AI tools. Exam facts are checked against the official sources listed below. Not reviewed by a subject-matter expert. Editorial policy
Sources & references
Exam facts on this page (fees, format, dates, passing scores) are checked against these official sources; the date is our last check. Editorial policy
- comptia.org — Eligibility, fees, exam format, passing score, time limit, test delivery, score validity, retake policy · verified Oct 2026