OSCPOffensive Security Certified Professional
The most respected hands-on penetration testing credential
CertPath Score
9.5
/10
About this certification
The OSCP is OffSec's flagship certification, requiring candidates to compromise a set of vulnerable machines within a 24-hour performance exam — no multiple choice. It validates real offensive security skills: enumeration, exploitation, post-exploitation, and report writing. OSCP is the industry benchmark for penetration testers.
What you'll validate
- ✓Network enumeration and scanning
- ✓Web application exploitation
- ✓Buffer overflow exploitation
- ✓Privilege escalation (Linux + Windows)
- ✓Active Directory attacks
- ✓Post-exploitation and pivoting
- ✓Professional penetration test reporting
Pros & Cons
Advantages
- +Industry's most respected offensive security credential
- +Performance-based — impossible to fake
- +Lifetime validity
- +Opens doors to elite penetration testing roles
Disadvantages
- −Extremely challenging — high failure rate
- −High cost including required course and labs
- −24-hour exam is mentally grueling
- −Not suitable for beginners
Who it's for
Best for
- →Aspiring penetration testers
- →Security professionals transitioning to red team roles
- →Those serious about offensive security as a career
Not ideal for
- ×Security beginners (build basics first)
- ×Those wanting a defensive/blue team credential
Career paths this unlocks
Study Guide
OSCP Exam Guide: How to Approach the 24-Hour Penetration Test
OSCP is the gold standard entry-level offensive security credential — and one of the hardest exams you can take. There are no multiple-choice questions. You have 24 hours to compromise target machines, and another 24 hours to write a professional penetration test report.
15 min read
Study Resources
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Jobs for OSCP holders
OSCP holders report $10k–$30k+ salary uplift on average.
LinkedIn Jobs
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Indeed
Dice (tech roles)
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CyberSeek (cyber only)
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Job links open external sites. Search results are live and not curated by CertPath.
Quick Facts
- Exam Cost
- $1499 (Includes PEN-200 course + 90-day lab access + 1 exam attempt)
- Exam Duration
- 1440 minutes
- Passing Score
- 70/100 points
- Exam Format
- Performance-Based (hands-on)
- Study Time
- ~300 hours
- Validity
- Lifetime
- Salary Impact
- Strong ($10k–$30k+ uplift reported)
Prerequisites
- !Solid networking and Linux fundamentals
- !Basic scripting knowledge (Python/Bash)
- !Familiarity with security concepts
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