EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) v13

CEH · ● Active · Associate-Professional · EC-Council

Exam facts

Vendor source — EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker ↗

Official exam guide — CEH v13 Exam Blueprint & Courseware ↗

Exam objectives — CEH v13 Knowledge Domains ↗

About

The Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) v13 is EC-Council's flagship penetration testing and ethical hacking credential, aimed at security professionals pursuing hands-on offensive security roles. Launched in Q1 2024, CEH v13 refreshes the v12 curriculum to include AI-augmented hacking techniques, cloud-native reconnaissance, IoT/OT attack methodologies, and modern C2 frameworks. The certification spans 14 knowledge domains: reconnaissance, network scanning, enumeration, system hacking, malware analysis, sniffing, social engineering, DoS attacks, session hijacking, web application hacking, wireless penetration testing, mobile device hacking, IoT/OT hacking, cloud security assessment, cryptography, and AI-driven cybersecurity concepts.

CEH is vendor-neutral but heavily weighted toward hands-on labs and practical scenarios (supported by the optional separate CEH Practical exam, a 6-hour lab-based assessment). Industry perception remains mixed: CEH is praised for breadth and accessibility (especially for career-changers), but criticized as "broad but shallow" compared to Offensive Security's OSCP (which is hands-on-only, 24-hour exam). CEH is commonly held by SOC analysts, vulnerability assessors, and junior penetration testers; it stacks well with CompTIA Security+ and is frequently required or preferred by government contractors and larger security teams.

Domain context — Security & Cybersecurity

Offensive penetration testing and ethical hacking. EC-Council's ecosystem is one of the largest and most accessible in ethical hacking, with flexible pricing (FREE via iLabs), optional hands-on labs, and global training availability.

Read full deep dive — Security & Cybersecurity Domain →

Topics covered

CEH v13 exam blueprint covers 14 domains with approximately equal weight per knowledge area:

• Information Security Fundamentals & Ethics — Legal frameworks, ethics, compliance, information security principles
• Reconnaissance & Footprinting — Passive/active reconnaissance, OSINT, information gathering, domain enumeration
• Network Scanning & Enumeration — Network mapping, port scanning (nmap), service enumeration, vulnerability scanning
• System Hacking & Intrusion — Privilege escalation, password attacks, hash cracking, system compromise techniques
• Malware Analysis & Threat Intelligence — Malware classification, behavioral analysis, reverse engineering, AV evasion
• Network Sniffing & Packet Analysis — Packet capture, protocol analysis, man-in-the-middle, ARP spoofing, DNS spoofing
• Social Engineering & Physical Security — Phishing, pretexting, physical penetration, organizational security testing
• Denial-of-Service (DoS) Attacks — DDoS techniques, botnet mechanics, mitigation strategies
• Session Hijacking & Replay Attacks — Session theft, cookie manipulation, replay attack methodologies
• Web Application & Server Hacking — OWASP Top 10, SQL injection, XSS, authentication bypass, API exploitation
• Wireless Network Penetration Testing — WPA/WPA2 cracking, rogue access points, wireless reconnaissance
• Mobile Device & IoT Hacking — Mobile OS vulnerabilities, Android/iOS exploitation, IoT device assessment
• Cloud Computing Security Assessment — AWS/Azure/GCP misconfiguration, cloud-native attacks, container security
• Cryptography & Encryption — Symmetric/asymmetric encryption, hashing, digital signatures, key management

Source: EC-Council CEH v13 Knowledge Domains ↗

Common skills at Security & Cybersecurity · Associate-Professional

Shared competencies for offensive security roles at this level — not specific to CEH.

• Vulnerability identification and assessment across networks, systems, and applications
• Hands-on exploitation techniques (network-based and application-based)
• Information gathering and OSINT using industry-standard tools (Nmap, Metasploit, Burp Suite, Wireshark)
• Privilege escalation and post-exploitation / persistence mechanisms
• Social engineering and phishing campaign execution (authorized testing only)
• Report writing and remediation recommendations for stakeholders
• Security tool proficiency: packet analyzers, vulnerability scanners, exploitation frameworks
• Basic cryptography understanding and encryption bypass scenarios
• Wireless network assessment and common wireless attack vectors

Recommended courses at Security & Cybersecurity · Associate-Professional

Practice exams

Books

Typical job titles at Security & Cybersecurity · Associate-Professional

Penetration Tester · Ethical Hacker · Vulnerability Assessment Specialist · Security Analyst (Offensive) · Red Teamer · Security Engineer (Junior) · Web Application Security Tester

(Job titles drawn from current job-board postings that list CEH as required or preferred.)

Salary

Salary note: CEH holders typically occupy mid-tier offensive security roles (junior penetration tester, security analyst, vulnerability assessor). Salary progression depends heavily on hands-on experience and certifications (OSCP, CRTP, CRTO elevate earning potential by 20–40%). CEH alone is considered "broad but shallow" in the industry; pairing it with OSCP or GIAC GPEN significantly increases market value.

Skills validated

CEH-specific — technologies, tools, and methodologies this exam actually tests.

• Nmap (network scanning and enumeration)
• Metasploit Framework (exploitation and payload delivery)
• Burp Suite (web application testing)
• Wireshark (packet analysis and network sniffing)
• hashcat / John the Ripper (password cracking and hash analysis)
• Aircrack-ng (wireless network penetration testing)
• Kali Linux (offensive security distribution and tool suite)
• OWASP Top 10 web vulnerabilities (SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, authentication bypass, etc.)
• Windows / Linux system exploitation and privilege escalation
• Social engineering and phishing campaign mechanics
• ARP spoofing, DHCP starvation, DNS spoofing, man-in-the-middle attacks
• Cryptographic concepts (symmetric, asymmetric, hashing, digital signatures)
• Cloud platform reconnaissance (AWS S3 misconfigurations, Azure overpermissioning, GCP service account abuse)
• Malware analysis fundamentals and reverse engineering concepts
• Wireless WPA/WPA2 cracking and rogue access point techniques

Related certifications

• Stacks with: CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701) ↗ · CompTIA PenTest+ (PT0-003) ↗
• Prerequisite for (hands-on track): Offensive Security OSCP (PEN-200) ↗ · GIAC GPEN (GIAC Penetration Tester) ↗ · Practical Penetration Tester (eLearnSecurity / INE) ↗
• Alternative at this level: Offensive Security OSWP (Wireless-100) ↗ · GIAC GWAPT (GIAC Web Application Penetration Tester) ↗
• Equivalents at this level: CompTIA PenTest+ (PT0-003) ↗ — CompTIA's competing mid-level penetration testing cert
• Industry positioning note: CEH is broadly recognized and heavily taught globally (especially in Asia-Pacific), but in North America and Western Europe it is often viewed as "entry-level pentest" compared to OSCP or CRTP, which require more hands-on lab work.
• Vendor overview: EC-Council Vendor Overview ↗

Sources

• EC-Council CEH v13 Certification Main Page: https://eccouncil.org/train-certify/certified-ethical-hacker-ceh/
• EC-Council iLearn Training Portal: https://eccouncil.org/train-certify/certified-ethical-hacker-ceh/ilearn/
• EC-Council iLabs Hands-On Labs: https://eccouncil.org/ilabs/
• Cybrary CEH v13 Course: https://www.cybrary.it/course/certified-ethical-hacker-ceh/
• Boson CEH v13 Practice Exam: https://www.boson.com/practice-exam/ec-council-ceh-practice-exam
• MeasureUp CEH v13 Practice Tests: https://www.measureup.com/ec-council-certified-ethical-hacker-ceh-v13.html
• Whizlabs CEH v13 Practice Exam: https://www.whizlabs.com/ceh-v13/
• Matt Walker, CEH Certified Ethical Hacker All-in-One Exam Guide (Fifth Edition), McGraw-Hill, 2023: https://www.mhprofessional.com/9781264269945-ceh-certified-ethical-hacker-all-in-one-exam-guide-fifth-edition-ebook
• Glassdoor Penetration Tester Salary Data: https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/penetration-tester-salary-SRCH_KO0,20.htm
• Robert Half IT Security Salary Guide (2026): https://www.roberthalf.com/us/en/salary-guide/it-security
• ZA Job Market (Pnet): https://pnet.co.za/
• UK IT Jobs Watch (Penetration Tester): https://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/

Last verified: 2026-05-01

Parent ecosystem: EC-Council Pentesting & Ethical Hacking

Parent domain: Security & Cybersecurity

Vendor overview: EC-Council Vendor Overview