Detect hard-to-find vulnerabilities with the new HTB CWEE

We are thrilled to announce a new milestone for the community and introduce our first certification covering specialized security job roles: HTB Certified Web Exploitation Expert (HTB CWEE). 

After successfully covering the core job roles within the industry, Hack The Box Academy is ready to become the go-to resource for any security enthusiast or professional. HTB CWEE aims to elevate the practical knowledge acquired, setting new standards on how individuals and organizations conduct advanced penetration tests against highly secure web applications.

“Living in the EDR era where corporate internal networks are tightly monitored, threat actors have shifted their focus towards targeting internet-exposed company assets such as web applications and APIs. In response to this evolving threat landscape, the Senior Web Penetration Tester job-role path and the HTB CWEE certification provide a comprehensive approach to web penetration testing training from both white box and black box perspectives. We aim to enhance the credibility and career prospects of cyber professionals, ensuring they are adept at safeguarding organizations against the increasing threat of web-based attacks in today's security landscape.”

Dimitris Bougioukas, Training Director @ Hack The Box

 

Who is it for?

The current market lacks advanced web penetration testing learning materials that focus on techniques and processes rather than specific vulnerabilities, that may get outdated at any point. 

The HTB Certified Web Exploitation Expert (HTB CWEE) focuses on building a mindset around risk mitigation and vulnerability identification, using various advanced and modern vulnerabilities as demos. This approach not only helps in identifying all of the covered vulnerabilities in the path but also others that are based on the same concepts or attack principles.

Black box and white box penetration testing

Our latest certification includes a highly hands-on exam that assesses skills in identifying advanced and hard-to-find web vulnerabilities using both black box and white box techniques. 

With the latest technologies developed and applied in network security, threat actors are most commonly seen attacking from the outside and targeting different layers of web applications, with no access to prior documentation or internal data.

📚 Suggested read: take a look at our 2024 web application penetration testing guide and prepare for your engagement.

 

From banks to governmental institutions

The HTB CWEE course material can be particularly useful for cybersecurity teams in financial institutions, government agencies, or public sector organizations. On a broader landscape, HTB CWEE will be beneficial to all security and IT teams in large corporations with multiple web applications hosting critical data.

Black box penetration testing is particularly relevant as it simulates real-world cyberattacks by testing systems from an external perspective without prior knowledge of the internal workings. This type of testing helps identify hard-to-find vulnerabilities that attackers could exploit to gain unauthorized access, steal data, or disrupt services. 

By practicing with the HTB Academy course material, companies can identify and address security weaknesses before malicious actors can exploit them, thereby enhancing their overall readiness and reducing the risk of costly breaches.

Developers, DevSecOps, or code reviewers

Building on the core knowledge of common web applications from HTB CBBH, this new certification also covers secure coding and code review domains. Cyberattacks attempting to sneak into developers' systems through open-source components have skyrocketed over the past few years, making developers low-hanging fruits for malicious code injections.

The new HTB CWEE does not only teach secure coding: we aim to form a mindset that will allow security-aware developers to identify vulnerabilities in existing code, scan for errors, and avoid them by applying secure coding practices that will improve the overall development lifecycle.

More about HTB CWEE

To sum up, the HTB Certified Web Exploitation Expert (HTB CWEE) is a highly hands-on certification that assesses skills in identifying advanced and hard-to-find web vulnerabilities using both black box and white box techniques. Certification holders will possess advanced technical competency in web security, web penetration testing, and secure coding domains. 

We aim to create senior professionals who not only can conduct web penetration tests against modern and highly secure web applications, but also report vulnerabilities found in code or arising from logical errors.

Students will be able to access the Certified Web Exploitation Expert exam upon completing the Senior Web Penetration Tester job-role path on HTB Academy. While studying the path, students will have the opportunity to go through advanced web vulnerabilities, large codebases, and hundreds of lab exercises, learning and practicing essential topics for any web penetration testing expert. 

The job-role path consists of 15 threat-connected courses based on the current landscape:

• Injection Attacks

• Introduction to NoSQL Injection

• Attacking Authentication Mechanisms

• Advanced XSS and CSRF Exploitation

• HTTPs/TLS Attacks

• HTTP Attacks

• Abusing HTTP Misconfigurations

• Blind SQL Injection

• Intro to Whitebox Pentesting

• Whitebox Attacks

• Modern Web Exploitation Techniques

• Introduction to Deserialization Attacks

• Advanced Deserialization Attacks

• Advanced SQL Injections

• Parameter Logic Bugs

By the time students complete the job-role path and obtain the certification, they will not just be an all-around web penetration testing expert, but they will also be able to develop custom exploits, review large code bases, and compose a commercial-grade as well as actionable web penetration testing report.

The entire path course material is included in the new Gold Annual HTB Academy subscription, which also provides full access to 90+ core and specialized Modules along with other exclusive features for annual subscribers.

The Exam

Once entering the exam environment, the candidate will have to perform black box and white box web penetration testing exercises against multiple real-world and heterogeneous applications hosted in the HTB infrastructure and accessible via VPN (using Pwnbox or their local VM). 

Upon starting the examination process, a letter of engagement will be provided that will clearly state all engagement details, requirements, objectives, and scope. All a candidate needs to perform the required activities is a stable internet connection and VPN software.

While it's not a strict requirement, it's strongly advised to have acquired all the knowledge the Bug Bounty Hunter job-role path encompasses or passed the HTB CBBH exam. This forms the essential foundation needed to embark on HTB CWEE. The following is a list of prerequisites for a successful outcome:

• Interpreting a letter of engagement

• Advanced knowledge of web penetration testing and secure coding concepts

• Knowledge of web applications and their functionality

• Proficiency in comprehending web application code structures

• Understanding of complex web vulnerabilities and the ability to detect them

• Knowledge of advanced bypasses

• Ability to automate the process of exploiting vulnerabilities

• Ability to patch any identified vulnerabilities and recommend secure coding advice

• Professionally communicating and reporting vulnerabilities

How can you take the exam?

1. Purchase a voucher

After an Academy student has successfully completed the job-role path, they will be able to become a candidate for the certification. Keep in mind that each exam voucher includes two (2) exam attempts. The voucher can be purchased separately or as part of our Gold Annual subscription. 

2. Enter the exam

Candidates can start the examination process by clicking "Exams", then "EXAM INFORMATION" and finally "ENTER EXAM." The lab and report submission deadlines will always be visible on the exam lab page. Reminder emails will be sent to ensure that you deliver everything on time and that your voucher does not expire.

3. Start pentesting

Upon clicking the "ENTER EXAM" button and accepting the terms and conditions of the exam, a letter of engagement will be provided that will clearly state all engagement details, requirements, and objectives, as well as the scope. A report template will also be provided.

To ensure that students fully achieve the exam’s objectives, they will also be asked to submit several flags on the exam lab’s page. The exam lab will be accessible for ten (10) days without restrictions.

Each candidate will be provided with a dedicated instance of the exam lab. This means that black box and white box penetration testing activities can be performed without interruptions caused by others, and reset the lab at any time.

4. Upload your report

Based on the provided template report, candidates must professionally document any identified vulnerabilities, developed exploits, required patching, and remediation recommendations.

Please note that if you don't upload a report within the deadline, your exam voucher will expire and you won't be provided with a second exam attempt!

5. Obtain your results!

An HTB Academy instructor will first check if the minimum amount of points is gathered and then evaluate the submitted report meticulously. The results will be presented within 20 business days.

If the first attempt fails, an HTB Academy instructor will identify lacking areas and provide constructive feedback for improvement. The instructor’s feedback will be available on the exam page, "EXAM HISTORY" tab.

Every candidate will have a second chance in the form of a free retake to use the obtained feedback. The retake lasts ten (10) days, and the exam lab will be accessible again for the entire duration. By the time the instructor’s feedback regarding your first attempt is received, candidates will have fourteen (14) days to start their retake. Otherwise, the exam voucher will expire. Once candidates successfully pass the exam, they can claim the digital certificate and download it from the "EXAM HISTORY" tab.

You can submit the ID of an HTB Certified Web Exploitation Expert (HTB CWEE) on the Certificate Validation page to verify its validity. In addition, all successfully certified students will be able to claim the HTB CWEE digital badge on Credly, and it will arrive directly in your email. Accept it and share it on your social media so that third parties can verify your obtained skills!

Become a market-ready security professional

Certifications are not a mandatory prerequisite to becoming a web penetration testing expert or practicing any other cybersecurity role but in a rapidly changing threat landscape and dynamic job market, it is more than reasonable to choose a development path that will provide a top-quality experience, prepare for real-world scenarios, and make you stand out. 

Here’s what makes HTB CWEE different from traditional certifications:

1. Continuous evaluation – Evaluation takes place throughout the journey not only during the examination! Each Module in the path comes with its own hands-on skills assessment that students must complete to prove their understanding of the presented topics.

2. Practical & real-world exam environment – The entire content covered by the path is based on real vulnerabilities, modern attacks, and bug bounty reports. This is coupled with realistic full-scale web applications and code bases to closely resemble what the candidate may face in a real day-to-day job.

3. Focus on advanced & applicable skills – The path is enriched with practical demonstrations that encompass a wide range of contemporary web vulnerabilities. This comprehensive approach equips candidates with the proficiency needed to discover new, zero-day web vulnerabilities in future scenarios.

4. Commercial-grade report requirement – Completing all required activities is not enough to obtain the certification. As part of their assessment, candidates must not only explain the process of identifying and exploiting vulnerabilities but also develop functional exploits. Additionally, candidates are expected to create patches for the vulnerabilities they uncover to prove they are market-ready and client-centric professionals.

5. Seamless experience powered by Pwnbox – The entire exam and certification process can be conducted through the candidates’ browser from start to finish.

 

For teams and organizations

The average cost of an attack is about $2.5M. At the same time, companies find it challenging to source and retain talented security professionals. This shortage leads to increased workloads and burnout among existing team members.

HTB CWEE provides threat-informed and market-connected courses, with an exam designed to confirm the skills acquired through a practical on-the-job assessment and continuous evaluation. 

All the course material is mapped to the NIST and MITRE ATT&CK frameworks, making it easy for technical managers to implement an efficient workforce development plan and foster a collaborative security approach. Consult the Academy for Business page to know more.