CompTIA PenTest+ Sample Questions for PT0-003 Exam Readiness
- CertiMaan
- Oct 24, 2025
- 16 min read
Updated: Mar 3
Get exam-ready with this comprehensive collection of CompTIA PenTest+ sample questions tailored for the PT0-003 certification. These practice materials are designed to simulate real-world penetration testing scenarios, helping candidates build hands-on skills in vulnerability assessment, attack techniques, and report generation. Whether you’re an aspiring penetration tester or a cybersecurity analyst, these sample questions and PT0-003 practice exams will boost your confidence and knowledge. With updated PenTest+ dumps and expert-verified mock tests, this guide is perfect for mastering the latest exam objectives and preparing for success in the growing field of cybersecurity testing and compliance.
CompTIA PenTest+ Sample Questions List :
1. A penetration tester identifies an exposed corporate directory containing first and last names and phone numbers for employees. Which of the following attack techniques would be the most effective to pursue if the penetration tester wants to compromise user accounts?
Smishing
Impersonation
Tailgating
Whaling
2. Which of the following is most important when communicating the need for vulnerability remediation to a client at the conclusion of a penetration test?
Articulation of impact
Articulation of escalation
Articulation of alignment
3. A penetration tester needs to confirm the version number of a client's web application server. Which of the following techniques should the penetration tester use?
SSL certificate inspection
URL spidering
Banner grabbing
Directory brute forcing
4. During an assessment, a penetration tester runs the following command: setspn.exe -Q / Which of the following attacks is the penetration tester preparing for?
LDAP injection
Pass-the-hash
Kerberoasting
Dictionary
5. A penetration tester is working on an engagement in which a main objective is to collect confidential information that could be used to exfiltrate data and perform a ransomware attack. During the engagement, the tester is able to obtain an internal foothold on the target network. Which of the following is the next task the tester should complete to accomplish the objective?
Initiate a social engineering campaign.
Perform credential dumping.
Compromise an endpoint.
Share enumeration.
6. A penetration tester wants to use multiple TTPs to assess the reactions (alerted, blocked, and others) by the client??s current security tools. The threat-modeling team indicates the TTPs in the list might affect their internal systems and servers. Which of the following actions would the tester most likely take?
Use a BAS tool to test multiple TTPs based on the input from the threat-modeling team.
Perform an internal vulnerability assessment with credentials to review the internal attack surface.
Use a generic vulnerability scanner to test the TTPs and review the results with the threat-modeling team.
Perform a full internal penetration test to review all the possible exploits that could affect the systems.
7. Which of the following is a term used to describe a situation in which a penetration tester bypasses physical access controls and gains access to a facility by entering at the same time as an employee?
Badge cloning
Shoulder surfing
Tailgating
Site survey
8. During a web application assessment, a penetration tester identifies an input field that allows JavaScript injection. The tester inserts a line of JavaScript that results in a prompt, presenting a text box when browsing to the page going forward. Which of the following types of attacks is this an example of?
SQL injection
SSRF
XSS
Server-side template injection
9. During a penetration test, a tester attempts to pivot from one Windows 10 system to another Windows system. The penetration tester thinks a local firewall is blocking connections. Which of the following command-line utilities built into Windows is most likely to disable the firewall?
certutil.exe
bitsadmin.exe
msconfig.exe
netsh.exe
10. During an engagement, a penetration tester needs to break the key for the Wi-Fi network that uses WPA2 encryption. Which of the following attacks would accomplish this objective?
ChopChop
Replay
Initialization vector
KRACK
11. During a penetration test, the tester uses a vulnerability scanner to collect information about any possible vulnerabilities that could be used to compromise the network. The tester receives the results and then executes the following command: snmpwalk -v 2c -c public 192.168.1.23 Which of the following is the tester trying to do based on the command they used?
Bypass defensive systems to collect more information.
Use an automation tool to perform the attacks.
Script exploits to gain access to the systems and host.
Validate the results and remove false positives.
12. In a cloud environment, a security team discovers that an attacker accessed confidential information that was used to configure virtual machines during their initialization. Through which of the following features could this information have been accessed?
IAM
Block storage
Virtual private cloud
Metadata services
13. During a security assessment, a penetration tester needs to exploit a vulnerability in a wireless network's authentication mechanism to gain unauthorized access to the network. Which of the following attacks would the tester most likely perform to gain access?
KARMA attack
Beacon flooding
MAC address spoofing
Eavesdropping
14. During an assessment, a penetration tester obtains an NTLM hash from a legacy Windows machine. Which of the following tools should the penetration tester use to continue the attack?
Responder
Hydra
BloodHound
CrackMapExec
15. A penetration tester gains initial access to a target system by exploiting a recent RCE vulnerability. The patch for the vulnerability will be deployed at the end of the week. Which of the following utilities would allow the tester to reenter the system remotely after the patch has been deployed? (Select two).
schtasks.exe
rundll.exe
cmd.exe
chgusr.exe
sc.exe
16. Which of the following post-exploitation activities allows a penetration tester to maintain persistent access in a compromised system?
Creating registry keys
Installing a bind shell
Executing a process injection
Setting up a reverse SSH connection
17. A penetration tester needs to collect information over the network for further steps in an internal assessment. Which of the following would most likely accomplish this goal?
ntlmrelayx.py -t 192.168.1.0/24 -1 1234
nc -tulpn 1234 192.168.1.2
responder.py -I eth0 -wP
crackmapexec smb 192.168.1.0/24
18. A penetration tester performs a service enumeration process and receives the following result after scanning a server using the Nmap tool: PORT STATE SERVICE 22/tcp open ssh 25/tcp filtered smtp 111/tcp open rpcbind 2049/tcp open nfs Based on the output, which of the following services provides the best target for launching an attack?
Database
Remote access
Email
File sharing
19. Which of the following components should a penetration tester include in an assessment report?
User activities
Customer remediation plan
Key management
Attack narrative
21. During an engagement, a penetration tester wants to enumerate users from Linux systems by using finger and rwho commands. However, the tester realizes these commands alone will not achieve the desired result. Which of the following is the best tool to use for this task?
Nikto
Burp Suite
smbclient
theHarvester
22. A penetration tester gains access to a Windows machine and wants to further enumerate users with native operating system credentials. Which of the following should the tester use?
route.exe print
netstat.exe -ntp
net.exe commands
strings.exe -a
23. During a penetration test, a tester captures information about an SPN account. Which of the following attacks requires this information as a prerequisite to proceed?
Golden Ticket
Kerberoasting
DCShadow
LSASS dumping
24. During a penetration testing engagement, a tester targets the internet-facing services used by the client. Which of the following describes the type of assessment that should be considered in this scope of work?
Segmentation
Mobile
External
Web
25. During an assessment, a penetration tester obtains a low-privilege shell and then runs the following command: findstr /SIM /C:"pass" .txt .cfg *.xml Which of the following is the penetration tester trying to enumerate?
Configuration files
Permissions
Virtual hosts
Secrets
26. A penetration tester is conducting a vulnerability scan. The tester wants to see any vulnerabilities that may be visible from outside of the organization. Which of the following scans should the penetration tester perform?
SAST
Sidecar
Unauthenticated
Host-based
27. A penetration tester is compiling the final report for a recently completed engagement. A junior QA team member wants to know where they can find details on the impact, overall security findings, and high-level statements. Which of the following sections of the report would most likely contain this information?
Quality control
Methodology
Executive summary
Risk scoring
28. A penetration tester discovers data to stage and exfiltrate. The client has authorized movement to the tester's attacking hosts only. Which of the following would be most appropriate to avoid alerting the SOC?
Apply UTF-8 to the data and send over a tunnel to TCP port 25.
Apply Base64 to the data and send over a tunnel to TCP port 80.
Apply 3DES to the data and send over a tunnel UDP port 53.
Apply AES-256 to the data and send over a tunnel to TCP port 443.
29. A penetration tester is conducting a wireless security assessment for a client with 2.4GHz and 5GHz access points. The tester places a wireless USB dongle in the laptop to start capturing WPA2 handshakes. Which of the following steps should the tester take next?
Enable monitoring mode using Aircrack-ng.
Use Kismet to automatically place the wireless dongle in monitor mode and collect handshakes.
Run KARMA to break the password.
Research WiGLE.net for potential nearby client access points.
30. A penetration tester executes multiple enumeration commands to find a path to escalate privileges. Given the following command: find / -user root -perm -4000 -exec ls -ldb {} \; 2>/dev/null Which of the following is the penetration tester attempting to enumerate?
Attack path mapping
API keys
Passwords
Permission
31. A penetration tester downloads a JAR file that is used in an organization's production environment. The tester evaluates the contents of the JAR file to identify potentially vulnerable components that can be targeted for exploit. Which of the following describes the tester's activities?
SAST
SBOM
ICS
SCA
32. A penetration tester gains access to a host but does not have access to any type of shell. Which of the following is the best way for the tester to further enumerate the host and the environment in which it resides?
ProxyChains
Netcat
PowerShell ISE
Process IDs
33. A penetration tester is getting ready to conduct a vulnerability scan as part of the testing process. The tester will evaluate an environment that consists of a container orchestration cluster. Which of the following tools should the tester use to evaluate the cluster?
Trivy
Nessus
Grype
Kube-hunter
34. A penetration tester is performing network reconnaissance. The tester wants to gather information about the network without causing detection mechanisms to flag the reconnaissance activities. Which of the following techniques should the tester use?
Sniffing
Banner grabbing
TCP/UDP scanning
Ping sweeps
35. During a vulnerability assessment, a penetration tester configures the scanner sensor and performs the initial vulnerability scanning under the client's internal network. The tester later discusses the results with the client, but the client does not accept the results. The client indicates the host and assets that were within scope are not included in the vulnerability scan results. Which of the following should the tester have done?
Rechecked the scanner configuration.
Performed a discovery scan.
Used a different scan engine.
Configured all the TCP ports on the scan.
36. During an external penetration test, a tester receives the following output from a tool: test.comptia.org info.comptia.org vpn.comptia.org exam.comptia.org Which of the following commands did the tester most likely run to get these results?
nslookup -type=SOA comptia.org
amass enum -passive -d comptia.org
nmap -Pn -sV -vv -A comptia.org
shodan host comptia.org
37. A tester completed a report for a new client. Prior to sharing the report with the client, which of the following should the tester request to complete a review?
A generative AI assistant
The customer's designated contact
A cybersecurity industry peer
A team member
38. During the reconnaissance phase, a penetration tester collected the following information from the DNS records: A-----> www A-----> host TXT --> vpn.comptia.org SPF---> ip =2.2.2.2 Which of the following DNS records should be in place to avoid phishing attacks using spoofing domain techniques?
MX
SOA
DMARC
CNAME
39. A penetration tester obtains password dumps associated with the target and identifies strict lockout policies. The tester does not want to lock out accounts when attempting access. Which of the following techniques should the tester use?
Credential stuffing
MFA fatigue
Dictionary attack
Brute-force attack
40. During an engagement, a penetration tester needs to break the key for the Wi-Fi network that uses WPA2 encryption. Which of the following attacks would accomplish this objective?
ChopChop
Replay
Initialization vector
KRACK
41. A penetration tester gains access to a Windows machine and wants to further enumerate users with native operating system credentials. Which of the following should the tester use?
route.exe print
netstat.exe -ntp
net.exe commands
strings.exe -a
42. A penetration tester assesses an application allow list and has limited command-line access on the Windows system. Which of the following would give the penetration tester information that could aid in continuing the test?
mmc.exe
icacls.exe
nltest.exe
rundll.exe
43. During an assessment, a penetration tester manages to get RDP access via a low-privilege user. The tester attempts to escalate privileges by running the following commands: Import-Module .\PrintNightmare.ps1 Invoke-Nightmare -NewUser "hacker" -NewPassword "Password123!" -DriverName "Print" The tester attempts to further enumerate the host with the new administrative privileges by using the runas command. However, the access level is still low. Which of the following actions should the penetration tester take next?
Log off and log on with "hacker".
Attempt to add another user.
Bypass the execution policy.
Add a malicious printer driver.
44. A penetration tester needs to launch an Nmap scan to find the state of the port for both TCP and UDP services. Which of the following commands should the tester use?
nmap -sU -sW -p 1-65535 example.com
nmap -sU -sY -p 1-65535 example.com
nmap -sU -sT -p 1-65535 example.com
nmap -sU -sN -p 1-65535 example.com
45. During a penetration test, the tester gains full access to the application's source code. The application repository includes thousands of code files. Given that the assessment timeline is very short, which of the following approaches would allow the tester to identify hard- coded credentials most effectively?
Run TruffleHog against a local clone of the application
Scan the live web application using Nikto
Perform a manual code review of the Git repository
Use SCA software to scan the application source code
46. A penetration tester established an initial compromise on a host. The tester wants to pivot to other targets and set up an appropriate relay. The tester needs to enumerate through the compromised host as a relay from the tester's machine. Which of the following commands should the tester use to do this task from the tester's host?
attacker_host$ nmap -sT | nc -n 22
attacker_host$ mknod backpipe p attacker_host$ nc -l -p 8000 | 0 80 | tee backpipe
attacker_host$ nc -nlp 8000 | nc -n attacker_host$ nmap -sT 127.0.0.1 8000
attacker_host$ proxychains nmap -sT
47. Which of the following describes the process of determining why a vulnerability scanner is not providing results?
Root cause analysis
Secure distribution
Peer review
Goal reprioritization
48. During a security assessment for an internal corporate network, a penetration tester wants to gain unauthorized access to internal resources by executing an attack that uses software to disguise itself as legitimate software. Which of the following host-based attacks should the tester use?
On-path
Logic bomb
Rootkit
Buffer overflow
49. During an external penetration test, a tester receives the following output from a tool: test.comptia.org info.comptia.org vpn.comptia.org exam.comptia.org Which of the following commands did the tester most likely run to get these results?
amass enum -passive -d comptia.org
shodan host comptia.org
nmap -Pn -sV -vv -A comptia.org
nslookup -type=SOA comptia.org
50. During a security assessment, a penetration tester gains access to an internal server and manipulates some data to hide its presence. Which of the following is the best way for the penetration tester to hide the activities performed?
Alter the log permissions
Reduce the log retention settings
Modify the system time
Clear the Windows event logs
51. A penetration tester needs to obtain sensitive data from several executives who regularly work while commuting by train. Which of the following methods should the tester use for this task?
MFA fatigue
Credential harvesting
Bluetooth spamming
Shoulder surfing
52. During an assessment, a penetration tester compromises some machines but finds that none of the accounts have sufficient access to the target HR database server. In order to enumerate accounts with sufficient permissions, the tester wants to model an attack path before taking further action. Which of the following tools should the tester use to meet this objective?
TruffleHog
Mimikatz
Hydra
Responder
BloodHound
53. After a recent penetration test was conducted by the company's penetration testing team, a systems administrator notices the following in the logs: 2/10/2023 05:50AM C:\users\mgranite\schtasks /query 2/10/2023 05:53AM C:\users\mgranite\schtasks /CREATE /SC DAILY Which of the following best explains the team's objective?
To view scheduled processes
To enumerate current users
To determine the users' permissions
To create persistence in the network
54. An external legal firm is conducting a penetration test of a large corporation. Which of the following would be most appropriate for the legal firm to use in the subject line of a weekly email update?
Action Required Status Update
Privileged & Confidential Status Update
Important Weekly Status Update
Urgent Status Update
55. A penetration tester aims to exploit a vulnerability in a wireless network that lacks proper encryption. The lack of proper encryption allows malicious content to infiltrate the network. Which of the following techniques would most likely achieve the goal?
56. A penetration tester runs a network scan but has some issues accurately enumerating the vulnerabilities due to the following error: OS identification failed - Which of the following is most likely causing this error?
The scan did not reach the target because of a firewall block rule
The scan cannot gather one or more fingerprints from the target
The scan is reporting a false positive
The scanner database is out of date
57. During an engagement, a penetration tester runs the following command against the host system: host -t axfr domain.com dnsl.domain.com Which of the following techniques best describes what the tester is doing?
Zone transfer
Host enumeration
DNS poisoning
DNS query
58. During a preengagement activity with a new customer, a penetration tester looks for assets to test. Which of the following is an example of a target that can be used for testing?
IPA
HTTP
API
ICMP
59. A company hires a penetration tester to test the security implementation of its wireless networks. The main goal for this assessment is to intercept and get access to sensitive data from the company's employees. Which of the following tools should the security professional use to best accomplish this task?
WiFi-Pumpkin
Metasploit
SET
theHarvester
60. Which of the following security controls should be implemented when systems that are covered by a compliance agreement are maintained separately from other elements of an organization's infrastructure?
Data isolation
Key management
Network monitoring
Penetration test
61. A penetration tester established an initial compromise on a host. The tester wants to pivot to other targets and set up an appropriate relay. The tester needs to enumerate through the compromised host as a relay from the tester's machine. Which of the following commands should the tester use to do this task from the tester's host?
attacker_host$ nmap -sT <target_cidr> | nc -n <compromised_host> 22
attacker_host$ mknod backpipe p attacker_host$ nc -l -p 8000 | 0 <backpipe | nc <target_cidr> 80 | tee backpipe
attacker_host$ proxychains nmap -sT <target_cidr>
attacker_host$ nc -nlp 8000 | nc -n <target_cidr> attacker_host$ nmap -sT 127.0.0.1 8000
62. During a web application assessment, a penetration tester identifies an input field that allows JavaScript injection. The tester inserts a line of JavaScript that results in a prompt, presenting a text box when browsing to the page going forward. Which of the following types of attacks is this an example of?
XSS
SQL injection
Server-side template injection
SSRF
63. A penetration tester needs to launch an Nmap scan to find the state of the port for both TCP and UDP services. Which of the following commands should the tester use?
nmap -sU -sW -p 1-65535 example.com
nmap -sU -sY -p 1-65535 example.com
nmap -sU -sN -p 1-65535 example.com
nmap -sU -sT -p 1-65535 example.com
64. A penetration tester must identify vulnerabilities within an ICS that is not connected to the internet or enterprise network. Which of the following should the tester utilize to conduct the testing?
Channel scanning
Stealth scans
Source code analysis
Manual assessment
65. Which of the following techniques is the best way to avoid detection by data loss prevention tools?
Compression
Encoding
Encryption
Obfuscation
66. A penetration tester is performing a network security assessment. The tester wants to intercept communication between two users and then view and potentially modify transmitted data. Which of the following types of on-path attacks would be best to allow the penetration tester to achieve this result?
VLAN hopping
DNS spoofing
ARP poisoning
SYN flooding
67. A penetration tester is performing a cloud-based penetration test against a company. Stakeholders have indicated the priority is to see if the tester can get into privileged systems that are not directly accessible from the internet. Given the following scanner information: Server-side request forgery vulnerability in test.comptia.org Reflected cross-site scripting vulnerability in test2.comptia.org Publicly accessible storage system named static_comptia_assets SSH port 22 open to the intemet on test3.comptia.org Open redirect vulnerability in test4.comptia.org Which of the following of the attack paths should the tester prioritize first?
Use the reflected cross-site scripting attack within a phishing campaign to attack administrators
Leverage the SSRF to gain access to credentials from the metadata service
Perform a full dictionary brute-force attack against the open SSH service using Hydra
Run Pacu to enumerate permissions and roles within the cloud-based systems
Synchronize all the information from the public bucket and scan it with Trufflehog
68. While performing a penetration testing exercise, a tester executes the following command: PS c:\tools> c:\hacks\PsExec.exe \\server01.comptia.org -accepteula cmd.exe Which of the following best explains what the tester is trying to do?
Send the PsExec binary file to the server01 using CMD.exe.
Perform a lateral movement attack using PsExec
Enable CMD.exe on the server01 through PsExec
Test connectivity using PSExec on the server01 using CMD.exe.
69. During a penetration testing exercise, a team decides to use a watering hole strategy. Which of the following is the most effective approach for executing this attack?
Create fake social media profiles to befriend employees
Launch a DDoS attack on the organization's website
Compromise a website frequently visited by the organization's employees
Send phishing emails to the organization's employees
70. A penetration tester has adversely affected a critical system during an engagement, which could have a material impact on the organization. Which of the following should the penetration tester do to address this issue?
Follow the escalation process
Select the target
Perform a BIA
Restore the configuration
71. During a security audit, a penetration tester wants to exploit a vulnerability in a common network protocol. The protocol allows encrypted communications to be intercepted and manipulated. Which of the following vulnerabilities should the tester exploit?
CVE-202W-ZZZZ: Cisco ASA IKEv2/IPSec Fragmentation Vulnerability
CVE-202Y-XXXX: Wireshark SSL/TLS Decryption Vulnerability
CVE-202X-YYYY: OpenSSL DROWN Attack
CVE-202Z-WWWW: Microsoft SMBv1 EternalBlue Exploit
72. During a security assessment, a penetration tester wants to compromise user accounts without triggering IDS/IPS detection rules. Which of the following is the most effective way for the tester to accomplish this task?
Bypass authentication using SQL injection
Brute force accounts using a dictionary attack
Crack user accounts using compromised hashes
Compromise user accounts using a XSS attack
73. A penetration tester needs to collect information transmitted over the network for further steps in an internal assessment. Which of the following would most likely accomplish this goal?
crackmapexec smb 192.168.1.0/24 -u "user" -p "pass123"
ntlmrelayx.py -t 192.168.1.0/24 -l 1234
nc -tulpn 1234 192.168.1.2
responder.py -I eth0 -wP
74. Which of the following is within the scope of proper handling and most crucial when working on a penetration testing report?
Keeping the report to a maximum of 5 to 10 pages in length
Making the report clear for all objectives with a precise executive summary
Keeping both video and audio of everything that is done
Basing the recommendation on the risk score in the report
FAQs
1. What is the CompTIA PenTest+ PT0-003 certification exam?
It is an intermediate-level certification that validates your skills in penetration testing, vulnerability assessment, and managing network security risks.
2. How do I become CompTIA PenTest+ PT0-003 certified?
To earn the certification, you must register for and pass the PT0-003 exam, which tests hands-on penetration testing and ethical hacking skills.
3. What are the prerequisites for the CompTIA PenTest+ PT0-003 exam?
There are no mandatory prerequisites, but CompTIA recommends Network+ and Security+ certifications or equivalent cybersecurity experience.
4. How much does the CompTIA PenTest+ PT0-003 certification cost?
The exam costs $392 USD, though fees may vary depending on region or testing center.
5. How many questions are in the CompTIA PenTest+ PT0-003 exam?
The exam has 85 performance-based and multiple-choice questions.
6. What topics are covered in the CompTIA PenTest+ PT0-003 exam?
It covers planning, information gathering, vulnerability scanning, exploits, post-exploitation, and reporting.
7. How difficult is the CompTIA PenTest+ PT0-003 certification exam?
It’s considered moderately difficult and requires hands-on penetration testing experience and strong networking knowledge.
8. How long does it take to prepare for the CompTIA PenTest+ PT0-003 exam?
Most candidates take 10–12 weeks to prepare, depending on their cybersecurity background.
9. What jobs can I get after earning the CompTIA PenTest+ PT0-003 certification?
You can work as a Penetration Tester, Security Analyst, Vulnerability Assessor, or Ethical Hacker.
10. How much salary can I earn with a CompTIA PenTest+ PT0-003 certification?
Professionals with this certification typically earn between $90,000–$120,000 annually, depending on experience and job role.



