You can see it againUnder pressure people bring back shapes and positions long after the wording has gone.
Picture superiority · Shepard 1967, Standing 1973
EC-COUNCILEC-Council Web Application Hacking and Security
EC-Council's Web Application Hacking and Security (WAHS) is a hands-on specialization certification that validates your ability to play, learn, hack, test, and secure web applications against existing and emerging threats. This performance-based program challenges you with progressively difficult, Capture-The-Flag style scenarios derived from EC-Council's iLabs, covering the OWASP Top 10 and advanced attack vectors. Earning the WAHS credential proves you can perform real-world web application security assessments under pressure.
Exam formatPerformance-based, hands-on practical exam
Duration360 minutes
DeliveryPearson VUE
Passing score60% for Associate, 75% for Professional, 90% for Expert
Free questions979
Content last reviewed 30 July 2026 · Up to date
The certification
What EC-Council Web Application Hacking and Security proves, and what it asks of you
What this certification covers, who it is written for, and what the exam itself looks like on the day.
8domains
25objectives
185concepts
What it is
What this certification is
What it validates, who it is written for, and the experience it assumes.
Includes a hands-on lab exam
Beyond the written/multiple-choice exam, this certification also requires a separate hands-on lab (or practical) exam on live equipment. Practice here prepares the written qualifying exam — the lab itself needs real hands-on experience, not just study.
About this certification
The EC-Council Web Application Hacking and Security (WAHS) certification is a specialization program designed for cybersecurity professionals who want to master the art of web application penetration testing. Unlike traditional knowledge-based exams, WAHS is a 100% performance-based, hands-on assessment that places you in a live, remotely proctored environment. You will be challenged with a series of progressively difficult, Capture-The-Flag (CTF) style scenarios that require you to identify, exploit, and document vulnerabilities across a broad spectrum of OWASP Top-10 attack vectors.
The program's curriculum is built on challenges derived from EC-Council's engaging iLab environments, drawing from the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Certified Penetration Testing Professional (CPENT), and Certified Application Security Engineer (CASE) programs. However, WAHS goes beyond these to present more complex and realistic scenarios. You will learn by doing, with the option to follow instructor-led walkthroughs or tackle challenges independently. The exam assesses not just your understanding of automated exploitation frameworks, but also your deep understanding of web application technologies, manual exploitation techniques, and your ability to perform a security assessment in a realistic, high-pressure scenario.
Upon passing the exam, your score determines the level of certification you earn: Associate, Professional, or Expert. This tiered credentialing model allows you to prove your skills at a level that matches your proficiency, making WAHS a valuable asset for employers seeking top-tier web application security talent.
Who it’s for
This certification is for cybersecurity and IT professionals tasked with implementing, managing, or protecting web applications. It is ideal for those who want a pure hands-on program to learn or recommend mitigation methods for a myriad of web security issues. If you are a penetration tester, application security analyst, security engineer, or a developer looking to deepen your offensive security skills, this program is designed for you. It is also well-suited for individuals who enjoy the challenge of CTF competitions and want to translate that skillset into a professional credential.
Recommended experience
While EC-Council does not mandate specific prerequisites, a solid foundation in networking, operating systems, and basic security concepts is strongly recommended. Familiarity with penetration testing methodologies and tools will be beneficial. Understanding of core networking concepts (TCP/IP, HTTP/HTTPS); Experience with Linux operating systems and command-line interfaces; Familiarity with common web application technologies (e.g., databases, servers); Basic knowledge of penetration testing tools and methodologies
The syllabus
What you’ll learn
Every domain and objective EC-Council measures, with the weight they carry on the exam.
The official EC-Council exam outline · checked 30 July 2026 · See the source
Broken Access Control
- Privilege Escalation
- Insecure Direct Object References (IDOR)
- Parameter Tampering
- API Abuse
- CORS Misconfiguration
Injection Attacks
- Advanced SQL Injection (SQLi)
- Command Injection
- Remote Code Execution (RCE)
Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)
- Reflected XSS
- Stored XSS
- DOM-based XSS
Request Forgery Attacks
- Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) - GET and POST Methods
- Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF)
Cryptographic Failures and Transport Security
- Weak SSL/TLS Ciphers
- Weak Cryptographic Algorithms or Protocols
- HTTP Security Header Directives
Security Misconfiguration
- Security Misconfigurations
- Directory Browsing and Bruteforcing
- Clickjacking
File Inclusion and Upload Attacks
- Local File Inclusion (LFI)
- Remote File Inclusion (RFI)
- Arbitrary File Upload and Download
Authentication and Session Management
- Authentication Bypass
- Session Fixation
- Network Scanning and Reconnaissance
On the day
The exam itself
Everything EC-Council publishes about sitting it, and nothing we inferred.
Prerequisites
No mandatory prerequisites — this certification has no required predecessor exam or credential.
CertificationEC-Council Web Application Hacking and Security
Exam formatPerformance-based, hands-on practical exam
Duration360 minutes
Passing score60% for Associate, 75% for Professional, 90% for Expert
DeliveryPearson VUE
LanguagesEnglish
After you pass
Where this credential goes next
The path EC-Council lays out, how the credential is kept, and where to book.
Step-by-step path to EC-Council Web Application Hacking and Security
Credential earnedEC-Council Web Application Hacking and Security Certification Renewal and maintenance
EC-Council certifications require renewal through continuing education credits. Specific renewal requirements for the WAHS certification are not detailed on the official exam page. Stay current with the latest technologies and maintain your certification.
Learn more about renewal requirements Lifecycle status
This certification is currently active and available. EC-Council maintains this certification to validate current skills and industry relevance.
Exam status: ActiveMaintained by EC-Council
Exam registration
Register for the exam through Pearson VUE, EC-Council’s authorized testing partner.
Schedule your examVisit the official EC-Council certification page for exam policies and requirements.
View the official pageYour coach
And when you are serious, your coach Pip takes over
Your coach in the app reads what you have answered with the book closed and tells you one thing to do tonight. It will not count an answer you gave with the page open, and it will tell you when you are not ready.
See how the coach worksBefore you book
Questions people ask
How does the WAHS exam relate to other EC-Council certifications like CEH or CPENT?
WAHS is a specialization certification. Its challenges are derived from the iLab environments of CEH and CPENT, but WAHS goes beyond these to more difficult scenarios. It is a distinct credential focused specifically on web application security.
Is the WAHS exam purely hands-on, or does it include multiple-choice questions?
The WAHS exam is a 100% performance-based, hands-on practical exam. It is fully online and remotely proctored, challenging candidates through a 6-hour practical assessment.
What is the structure of the WAHS exam environment?
The exam is delivered through an Exam Dashboard available for 30 days from your Aspen account. You must schedule and complete the exam within this validity period. You will need a host machine with a virtual machine running your penetration testing toolkit.
What job roles does the WAHS certification map to?
The certification is designed for professionals tasked with implementing, managing, or protecting web applications, including penetration testers and application security analysts.
Can I earn different levels of the WAHS certification?
Yes. Your score on the exam determines your certification level: scoring more than 60% earns the Associate level, more than 75% earns the Professional level, and more than 90% earns the Expert level.
Information freshness · Content last reviewed on 2026-07-30 Up to date
Practice free questions 979 questions, free, no account needed.
The curriculum
The whole exam, mapped and written
Every domain, every objective, and every concept EC-Council measures — each one written out.
8domains
25objectives
185concepts
206free pages
The domains, and what sits inside them
Every objective below is a page you can open and practise now, without an account.
The official EC-Council exam outline · checked 30 July 2026 · See the source
1Broken Access Control227 questions
2Injection Attacks119 questions
3Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)107 questions
4Request Forgery Attacks60 questions
5Cryptographic Failures and Transport Security111 questions
6Security Misconfiguration124 questions
7File Inclusion and Upload Attacks66 questions
8Authentication and Session Management165 questions
Not a table of contents
Every line on this map already opens
In front of every objective the practice pages are already there, free and without an account. This is one objective, opened.
Privilege Escalation8 pagesOpen →
Free in front of it
39 questions on this objective, five to a page. Every range above is a real page, open now, with no account.
Reading the map is not the same as knowing the ground
The curriculum tells you what is on the exam. Proving you know it is a different job — and it is the one the closed-book run does.
Free questions
979 questions. No account, no card.
The whole bank is open. 5 questions to a page, every answer explained, and a discussion thread on each one.
979questions
206pages
25objectives
Freealways
Browse by domain
Every objective, and every page range, is a link — so you can pick up exactly where you left off.
1Broken Access Control227 questions
2Injection Attacks119 questions
3Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)107 questions
4Request Forgery Attacks60 questions
5Cryptographic Failures and Transport Security111 questions
6Security Misconfiguration124 questions
7File Inclusion and Upload Attacks66 questions
8Authentication and Session Management165 questions
What a practice page gives you
1Five to a page
Short enough to finish, long enough to matter.
2Every answer explained
Not only which one is right — why the others are wrong.
3A discussion on each
Ask, answer, and vote. Every question has its own thread.
A question, and the idea behind it
Every question comes from a concept
These are not trivia. Each one is written against a concept in the book, so when you get one wrong there is somewhere to go and find out why.
The visual book
See it once. Carry it into the exam.
The pages shown here come from our AI-900 book — an example of how each concept is written in plain language and, where the idea needs one, drawn as a full page you can take in at a glance.
185concepts
979free questions
Why a picture, and not another paragraph
Three reasons, and each one is a real finding rather than a slogan.
You can see it againThe whole idea at onceWhere it starts, what happens in the middle, what comes out, and the mistake to avoid.
Multimedia principle · MayerThe look-alikes sit togetherThe pairs the exam tests are drawn side by side, so the difference is seen, not told.
Dual coding · PaivioWhat one page is made of
You are never asked to read a poster here — only to see how one is built. After that, every other page is legible at a glance.
1A numbered strip on top
The idea as a sequence, followed with a finger before a word is read.
2Panels for the parts
What it is, how the machine learns it, when it is the right tool.
3The trap, framed
The distinction the exam tests, given its own box instead of buried in prose.
4One line at the bottom
The sentence to carry into the exam room.
Open book, on purpose
Answer it with the picture beside you
This is the part that teaches. The illustration and the written explanation stay where they are while you work, so a scenario stops being a memory test and becomes something you can simply look at.
It teaches · it does not count
A smartphone uses AI to unlock when the owner looks at the camera. Which AI capability is being used?
AImage classification
BFacial recognition
COptical character recognition
DObject detection
Look at the five steps. Detect finds a face, align straightens it, encode turns it into numbers, search compares it with a stored face, and decide answers one question: is this the same person? Classification would only say “a face”. Detection would only draw a box. Neither decides whose.
Then the page shuts, and it starts counting
The same questions come back with the book closed — that run is the one that counts. After it, your coach picks one thing for tonight, sized to the time you have, and brings pages back before you lose them.
Testing effect · Roediger & Karpicke 2006 · spacing effect · Cepeda et al. 2006
Official resources
Straight from EC-Council
Where the exam is defined, scheduled and scored.
1official link
185concepts mapped
The source
EC-Council’s own pages
We link to them rather than repeat them, so nothing here goes stale behind them.
Checked against the source
Every objective on the official EC-Council outline already has questions here
We build from the official skills outline, not from a summary of it — 25 objectives, 185 concepts written under them, and free questions against every one. When EC-Council changes the outline, this page changes with it.
25objectives on the outline→185concepts written→979free questions
An official page tells you what will be asked. It cannot tell you what you will get right.
That is the only question worth answering the night before, and no link answers it. You answer it by taking the questions with the book closed, and seeing what comes back.