INE eWPTXv2 Exam Review

What is the eWPTXv2?

The Web application Penetration Tester eXtreme is INE’s advanced web certification. This is a practical exam that spans over the course of 14 days. Seven days of environment access for testing and seven days to complete a professional report. This certification is not a capture the flag. It simulates a black box web application test for a client.

[embed]eWPTX Certification - INE Security eWPTX Certification Web application Penetration Tester eXtreme The eWPTX is our most advanced web application…security.ine.com

Just when you think you’re done, they pull you back in. I had a few months left of my INE premium subscription and I figured I would just let it run out after my eCPPT exam, but they roped me in for one more hurrah. INE ran a $100 off the eWPTX exam voucher and I decided to give it a go as it is the last of the non-expiring exams.

My Studying Method

I skimmed through the content and made some notes of the PPTs. The port from elearnsecurity to INE did not go well, so some of the slides were not even readable and they no longer let you download them which is definitely why I miss the old setup with elearn, but I took screen shots of what I could and added them to my notes. I went through the labs on INE premium, which are listed below.

If you do not have premium to access the labs or want more practice, additional labs I recommend are below.

• HTB Arkham
• HTB Sau
• HTB Ophiuchi
• HTB Devoops
• HTB BountyHunter

Exam Experience

The exam environment was quite unstable and I had to keep re-setting it to get my exploits to get a successful run. I also have burp suite pro which was helpful, but also not helpful. An active scan would crash the environment, so I just had it on live as a intercepted various pages of the applications.

I have to say out of all the exams from this platform, this one really tested me. I kept getting stuck at various points and giving myself less time to complete the exam definitely had an impact. If you can take an extra day or two off for this exam, I would recommend it.

Overall my experience was similar to other exams. I usually sit and test for one to three hours then take a break. I started drafting my report while doing testing and this helped me save a lot of time. It also helped me realize where I was missing screen shots. When I was finally done, I submitted my 64 page report. I submitted my exam September 2nd and didn’t hear back on my results until September 30th. I wish the wait times were not so long, but these reports are not quick to write, nor should they be quick to grade.

My Tips:

When you kick off your exam you will be given a Rules of Engagement. The ROE has specific items you will need to accomplish in order to pass, but they are not the only thing that will result in a pass. Make sure you keep this in mind when writing your report.

I used their lab environment and not my usual VM for certs. This caused issues with some software. So when you’re utilizing tools on their labs, make sure you have the same tools, but understand newer versions may not work on the exam and you’ll have to downgrade or else you will fail.

Enumerate everything and use a bunch of different wordlists when doing your directory enumeration

Use chatgpt. Chatgpt was a life saver in my exploit development code as well as debugging it. If you understand what you’ve found and what you need to turn it in to, give chatgpt the pseudo code.

Make sure you prep meals before your exam and take breaks.

Ha, and oh, drink more water. You’re welcome.

Final Thoughts

This exam was one of my favorite certifications thus far. The exploitation methods and knowledge you gain from the eWPTx are going to be useful in any future engagement. I see a lot of comments about the exam being outdated, but the fact is real world engagements are riddled with outdated software and common mistakes that have been exploitable for years. I have already used things I learned from this exam at work and on other hacking platforms, so just know just because it’s not the latest doesn’t mean it isn’t worth knowing nor does it make it any easier of an exam.

I’m happy to add the eWPTx to my transcript and recommend it to anyone who is looking for a more advanced web app pentest cert.

I hope this review helps you if you are studying for this exam or were thinking about taking it. I am not sure if INE will continue this offering or update it in the future, but it’s worth it.

Other resources

• GitHub — pessoagabriel/ewptx-topics: A Comprehensive Checklist of Topics to Study for Passing the eWPTXv2 Exam
• GitHub — deltacors/ewptx: List of useful commands for web penetration testing and eWPTX certification
• https://github.com/CyberSecurityUP/eWPTX-Preparation
• https://book.hacktricks.xyz/pentesting-web/sql-injection/sqlmap
• https://book.hacktricks.xyz/pentesting-web/deserialization