OSCP Flashcards

All 33 terms

OSCP

Offensive Security Certified Professional: OffSec's hands-on penetration-testing certification, tied to the PEN-200 course.

OSCP+

The current naming of the credential, valid three years and maintained with CPE credits and an annual fee.

PEN-200

OffSec's course "Penetration Testing with Kali Linux", which the OSCP exam is based on.

OffSec

Offensive Security, the organisation behind PEN-200 and the OSCP.

Penetration test

An authorised, scoped assessment that tries to find and demonstrate security weaknesses.

Enumeration

Systematically discovering hosts, ports, services and other details about a target.

Footprinting

Early information gathering to build a picture of the target before active testing.

Exploitation

Using an identified weakness to gain access to a system.

Initial access

The first foothold gained on a target during an engagement.

Privilege escalation

Moving from limited access to higher (often administrative) rights on a host.

Local privilege escalation

Escalating rights on a machine where you already have a foothold.

Lateral movement

Moving from one compromised host to another within a network.

Pivoting

Using a machine you control to reach hosts you cannot access directly.

Port forwarding

Redirecting traffic through a controlled host to reach an internal service.

Tunnelling

Encapsulating traffic to route it through an intermediary, often to reach internal hosts.

Active Directory (AD)

Microsoft's directory service for managing users, computers and permissions in a Windows network.

AD set

The chained Active Directory environment in the OSCP exam, worth 40 of the 100 points.

Standalone machine

An independent target in the OSCP exam, separate from the AD set, worth points toward the 60-point pool.

Assumed compromise

An exam model where you begin with a foothold and are tested on what you do next, not on initial access.

Foothold

An initial point of access on a target from which you can work further.

Web application attack

A weakness in a web application that can lead to access, studied conceptually here.

Client-side attack

A technique that relies on a user interacting with something rather than attacking a service directly.

Metasploit

A widely used exploitation framework; its use in the OSCP exam is governed by specific rules.

Kali Linux

A Linux distribution with penetration-testing tools, used throughout PEN-200.

Reverse shell

A connection that gives an operator interactive control of a compromised host (conceptual).

Payload

The code or action delivered by an exploit to achieve a goal (conceptual).

Proof / flag

A token retrieved from a compromised machine to prove access for the exam report.

Report

The professional write-up of the engagement; on the exam you have a further 24 hours to submit it.

Rules of engagement

The agreed scope and limits of an authorised test: what may be tested and how.

Scope

The defined set of systems and actions that are authorised for testing.

Proctoring

Live monitoring of a candidate during the exam to ensure the rules are followed.

CPE credits

Continuing Professional Education credits used to keep OSCP+ valid over its three-year cycle.

Assumed-compromise vs black box

Starting with a foothold (assumed compromise) versus starting with no inside access (black box).