CPTS-Like Machines: 48 boxes by difficulty

CPTS, the Certified Penetration Testing Specialist from Hack The Box, is a practical certification built around a multi-day exam in which you assess a realistic network and deliver a professional report. It covers enumeration, web attacks, Active Directory, pivoting and reporting.

The 48 machines on this page are tagged CPTS in the ZeroBox catalog and come from HTB. By operating system that is 36 Linux, 12 Windows. The machines below cover the breadth that the exam expects: web application flaws, service enumeration, Windows and Linux escalation, Active Directory and tunnelling. Because CPTS rewards thorough notes and clean reporting, use each box to practise documenting evidence as you go.

To use the list, start at the easiest group and work upward, spending real time on enumeration before looking at any help. After each box, write down the foothold, the escalation and what you would do faster next time. 1 of these are targets I solved myself, so they link to an attack path summary on this site; the others link to the official room. Once you are comfortable, rehearse under pressure in the exam simulator, and follow the phase-by-phase pentest methodology checklist so you do not skip steps. You can also browse the technique hubs to drill one skill at a time.

Jump to difficulty

CPTS machine list by difficulty

Very Easy (2)

Easy (17)

Medium (28)

Hard (1)

Related guides

Machines belong to HTB. ZeroBox is not affiliated with the platforms or certification bodies named here.