CEH certification: requirements, exam format and practice questions
CEH is the Certified Ethical Hacker certification from EC-Council, currently version 13. The knowledge exam is 125 multiple-choice questions in four hours, and EC-Council requires either official training or two years of information security work experience before you may sit it.
- Knowledge exam
- 125 multiple-choice questions in 4 hoursEC-Council CEH page, checked 24 September 2026
- Practical exam
- 20 challenges in 6 hours, on the iLabs Cyber RangeEC-Council CEH page, checked 24 September 2026
- Passing score
- 60% to 85%, depending on the exam formEC-Council publishes a range rather than one cut score, checked 24 September 2026
- Eligibility
- Official training, or two years of information security work experienceEC-Council application process and eligibility, checked 24 September 2026
- Application fee without training
- US$100, non-refundableEC-Council states a non-refundable $100 eligibility application fee, checked 24 September 2026
- Current version
- v13EC-Council CEH page, checked 24 September 2026
- Exam fee
- US$950 online proctored, US$1199 via VUEEC-Council application process and eligibility page, voucher price, checked 10 October 2026
- Practice questions here
- 499 for the CEH examCertsqill question bank
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What is CEH?
CEH stands for Certified Ethical Hacker, the offensive-security certification from EC-Council. The name describes it: it certifies that you can do to a system what an attacker would, with permission, and report what you found.
The current edition is v13, which EC-Council positions around AI-assisted offensive work and ships with 221 hands-on labs. It is one of the few certifications at this level with two separate exams: a knowledge exam and a practical one.
Source: EC-Council — Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH). Checked 24 September 2026.
What are the CEH requirements and prerequisites?
There are two routes, and this is the part most summaries get wrong. EC-Council states that the CEH programme requires two years of work experience in an information security domain — or you attend official EC-Council training, in which case the experience requirement does not apply.
Candidates who want to sit the exam without official training submit an eligibility application first and pay a non-refundable US$100 application fee. So the requirements come down to one fork: train with EC-Council, or document two years and pay the application fee.
Source: EC-Council — Application process and eligibility. Checked 24 September 2026.
What is the CEH exam format?
The knowledge exam is 125 multiple-choice questions in four hours. The practical exam is separate: 20 challenges over six hours, delivered on EC-Council’s iLabs Cyber Range, where you actually perform the tasks rather than describe them.
The passing score is unusual. EC-Council publishes a range — 60% to 85% — rather than one number, because the cut score is set per exam form depending on its difficulty. So a page telling you the CEH pass mark is one fixed percentage is stating something EC-Council does not.
EC-Council publishes no pass rate, so the only markers of difficulty are the ones above — 125 questions in four hours on the knowledge side, and a six-hour practical if you take it.
Source: EC-Council — Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH). Checked 24 September 2026.
How much does CEH certification cost?
This is the most-searched thing about CEH. EC-Council lists the exam voucher on its application and eligibility page: US$950 for the online exam with proctoring and US$1199 via VUE, checked 10 October 2026.
On top of that comes the US$100 non-refundable eligibility application fee, and that is only for candidates applying without official training. It is not the exam.
What that means in practice: the number you pay depends on which route you take — official training with an exam voucher bundled in, or the self-study route with the application fee plus a voucher bought separately — and on the reseller or training partner you buy it from. Any other figure quoted elsewhere is that seller’s price, not EC-Council’s published one.
Source: EC-Council — Application process and eligibility. Checked 24 September 2026.
Where can you find CEH practice questions?
This site holds 499 CEH practice questions. Every question shows all options, which one is correct, and why each of the others is wrong — on an offensive-security exam, the wrong answers are usually the tool or technique that would be right one step earlier or later in the attack chain.
Practice questions are there so you meet EC-Council’s phrasing before exam day.
What you will not find here is a CEH dump. A dump means recycled live exam content, and on an exam whose cut score moves with the form, a leaked question set tells you even less than usual. These questions are written against EC-Council’s published syllabus instead.
Because the pass mark sits in a 60% to 85% range rather than at a fixed number, no practice percentage can tell you that you have passed. What it can tell you is which domain still costs you points.
What CEH study guide and books do you need?
EC-Council publishes the CEH syllabus and sells its own courseware and labs; everything else is third party. Any third-party CEH study guide or book maps back to the same syllabus.
Check the version before buying. v13 is the current edition and its AI-related content is the part that older guides do not have. This site is not a course and not a training partner — it is the practice layer on top of whichever material you use, and it does not satisfy EC-Council’s official-training route.
Source: EC-Council — Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH). Checked 24 September 2026.
CEH vs OSCP and CISSP
OSCP vs CEH is the comparison people search most, and the split is knowledge against execution. CEH’s knowledge exam is 125 multiple-choice questions; OSCP is a hands-on exam that asks you to compromise machines. CEH does have a practical exam of its own — 20 challenges in six hours — but it is a separate sitting, not the default one.
CISSP vs CEH crosses disciplines rather than levels: ISC2’s CISSP is the broad security design and management certification, CEH the offensive one. Neither issuer positions them as alternatives, and they are commonly held together.
Source: EC-Council — Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH). Checked 24 September 2026.
Is CEH worth it?
EC-Council publishes no salary data and no pass rate, so this page states neither.
What is verifiable is the shape of the commitment: two years of documented security experience or official EC-Council training, a US$100 application fee on the self-study route, a 125-question four-hour knowledge exam, a six-hour practical if you want it, and a cut score EC-Council sets per form between 60% and 85%. EC-Council lists the exam voucher at US$950 online proctored or US$1199 via VUE, checked 10 October 2026.
Source: EC-Council — Application process and eligibility. Checked 24 September 2026.
CEH questions people ask
What is CEH?
CEH is the Certified Ethical Hacker certification from EC-Council, currently version 13. The knowledge exam is 125 multiple-choice questions in four hours; a separate practical exam is 20 challenges in six hours. Source: EC-Council, checked 24 September 2026.
What are the CEH requirements?
Either attend official EC-Council training, or document two years of work experience in an information security domain and submit an eligibility application with a non-refundable US$100 fee. Source: EC-Council application process and eligibility, checked 24 September 2026.
How many questions are on the CEH exam?
125 multiple-choice questions in four hours on the knowledge exam. The optional practical exam is 20 challenges in six hours. Source: EC-Council CEH page, checked 24 September 2026.
What is the CEH passing score?
EC-Council publishes a range of 60% to 85% rather than a single figure, because the cut score is set per exam form. Checked 24 September 2026.
How much does CEH cost?
EC-Council lists the exam voucher at US$950 for the online exam with proctoring and US$1199 via VUE. Candidates applying without official training also pay a US$100 non-refundable eligibility application fee. Source: EC-Council application process and eligibility page, checked 10 October 2026. Any other number you see is a training partner’s or reseller’s price.
OSCP vs CEH — which one?
CEH’s main exam is 125 multiple-choice questions and tests knowledge; OSCP is hands-on throughout. CEH offers a separate six-hour practical exam as well. They measure different things rather than different levels.
Is CEH worth it?
EC-Council publishes no salary data and no pass rate, so no page can answer that with a figure. What it does publish: two years of experience or official training, a US$100 application fee on the self-study route, 125 questions in four hours, and a cut score between 60% and 85% depending on the form. Checked 24 September 2026.
How many CEH practice questions does Certsqill have?
499 for the CEH exam, each with an explanation for every option — the correct one and the wrong ones.
What is a certified ethical hacker?
In plain terms, a certified ethical hacker is a security professional who has proved, through EC-Council’s exam, that they understand how attackers work — and who uses that knowledge with permission, to find weaknesses before someone else does. The certified ethical hacker meaning is that mix of offensive knowledge and an agreed scope; in certified ethical hacker cyber security roles it shows up as penetration testing, red team work or SOC analysis.
What is a CEH certification, then, compared with the job? The certification is the credential: EC-Council awards it when you pass the knowledge exam. The job title “ethical hacker” can be held without it, and the credential can be held by people whose title is SOC analyst or security engineer.
If you were searching for certified executive housekeeper CEH, that is an unrelated credential from housekeeping management that happens to share the abbreviation. This page is only about the Certified Ethical Hacker.
Source: EC-Council — Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH). Checked 9 October 2026.
What organization offers the CEH certification exam?
EC-Council. The Certified Ethical Hacker name, syllabus, exam and credential all belong to EC-Council, which also runs eligibility, vouchers and renewal. When you see “EC-Council certified ethical hacker certification” or “CEH certification EC-Council”, it is the same credential.
There is no Cisco certified ethical hacker credential, and no CompTIA certified ethical hacker credential either. Cisco’s Networking Academy runs its own free online course called Ethical Hacker, which is a Cisco course, not CEH. If you were looking for a Cisco ethical hacker certification, check on Cisco’s own page what that course awards; whatever it is, it is not CEH.
If you are after a CompTIA ethical hacker certification, CompTIA’s offering in this area is PenTest+, its penetration testing certification. Its current exam, PT0-003, has a maximum of 90 multiple-choice and performance-based questions in 165 minutes. It is a separate credential from a separate organisation; holding one does not give you the other.
Source: Cisco Networking Academy — Ethical Hacker course. Checked 9 October 2026.
Certified ethical hacker v13: the latest version
The CEH latest version is v13, which EC-Council markets as CEH AI. When you buy study material or a course, check that it says v13: the certified ethical hacker latest version is the only one you can be examined on, and its AI-related content is what older material lacks.
Certified ethical hacker v12 and certified ethical hacker v10 are earlier editions. If you already hold CEH from one of them, keeping it is a matter of EC-Council’s continuing education policy, described below. If you are studying now, an older edition’s book or question set covers an exam that is no longer the one you will sit.
Source: EC-Council — Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH). Checked 9 October 2026.
CEH test day: the EC-Council CEH exam in practice
EC-Council delivers the CEH knowledge exam online through its own exam portal with proctoring, or through VUE. Its eligibility page lists the voucher at $950 for the online proctored exam and $1199 for VUE delivery. The CEH testing options differ in setting and price, not in content.
If you do not pass, EC-Council’s exam policy allows a second attempt with no waiting period; before a third attempt you must wait at least 14 days, and the same 14-day wait applies to later retakes. Once you have passed an exam, you cannot take it again.
Source: EC-Council — Application process and eligibility. Checked 9 October 2026.
How hard is the certified ethical hacker exam?
EC-Council publishes no pass rate, so “how hard is the CEH exam?” has no answer in numbers. What makes it demanding is easy to name, though:
So how hard is certified ethical hacker in practice? For someone with the two years of security experience EC-Council asks for, the knowledge is usually familiar and the challenge is breadth and speed. For someone coming through training alone, the tool names and attack phases are the part that needs the most repetition.
- Breadth: the v13 course has 20 modules, from reconnaissance to cloud computing and cryptography, and any of them can appear.
- Pace: 125 questions in four hours is a little under two minutes each.
- A moving target: EC-Council sets the cut score per exam form, between 60% and 85%, so there is no fixed percentage to aim for.
- Close options: wrong answers are typically real tools or techniques from a neighbouring phase of an attack.
Source: EC-Council — Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH). Checked 9 October 2026.
Certified ethical hacker labs and CEH Master
The v13 course comes with 221 hands-on labs, and official training includes six months of access to labs hosted in EC-Council’s Cyber Range. A certified ethical hacker lab is where the tool names in the knowledge exam turn into something you have actually run.
The labs also prepare you for the practical exam, delivered on EC-Council’s iLabs Cyber Range. EC-Council awards the certification when the knowledge exam is passed; candidates who also pass the practical exam earn the certified ethical hacker master credential, shown as CEH (Master).
Source: EC-Council — Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH). Checked 9 October 2026.
Certified ethical hacker vs OSCP, PenTest+ and other options
There is no single best ethical hacker certification; the right one depends on what you need to prove. The useful comparison is the exam format:
Certified ethical hacker vs OSCP is therefore mostly a question of evidence: CEH shows broad knowledge (and, with the practical, hands-on skill), while OSCP is built entirely around hands-on work. Where an employer asks for a credential by name — for example because of the US DoD 8140 directive, under which EC-Council says CEH is approved — that requirement decides for you.
- CEH (EC-Council): a knowledge exam of 125 multiple-choice questions in four hours, plus an optional six-hour practical exam for CEH Master.
- PenTest+ (CompTIA): a maximum of 90 multiple-choice and performance-based questions in 165 minutes.
- OSCP (OffSec): an exam that is entirely hands-on — attacking machines and writing a report.
Source: CompTIA — PenTest+ certification. Checked 6 October 2026.
Certified ethical hacker forensic investigator: CEH or CHFI?
The forensic credential is a different EC-Council certification: CHFI, Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator, a professional certification for digital forensics. Its exam is 150 multiple-choice questions in four hours.
CEH is about how attacks are carried out; CHFI is about investigating them afterwards and handling the evidence. They are separate exams and separate credentials.
Source: EC-Council — Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator (CHFI). Checked 9 October 2026.
Certified ethical hacker login, credential and logo
The certified ethical hacker login is EC-Council’s certified member portal, ASPEN, at aspen.eccouncil.org. It is EC-Council’s portal for certified members, and EC-Council’s auto-renewal of continuing education fees runs through it. If your CE fees are unpaid, EC-Council suspends ASPEN services.
Certified members receive EC-Council digital badges to show on professional profiles. EC-Council’s certified member policies include separate logo usage guidelines, so check those before putting the certified ethical hacker logo on a CV or website. Members whose certification is inactive cannot share their certification badge.
For a CEH certification login problem, the place to start is the ASPEN portal itself, not a training provider’s site, because the portal is EC-Council’s.
Source: EC-Council — Certified member benefits. Checked 9 October 2026.
CEH renewal: how to keep the credential active
EC-Council certifications are valid for three years from the date of certification. To renew CEH, you earn 120 continuing education credits within each three-year cycle and pay an annual continuing education fee of USD $80 if you hold at least one certification under that scheme.
If the credits are not there at the end of the cycle, the certification is suspended; if you still do not meet the requirement within the suspension period, it is revoked, and you have to pass the current exam again. Certified ethical hacker renewal is therefore cheaper to plan for than to recover from.
Source: EC-Council — Continuing education (ECE/CPE) policy. Checked 9 October 2026.
Certified ethical hacker PDF: what is official
EC-Council supplies its CEH courseware to students of official training, who get access to all course materials. On the pages we checked, it does not offer the courseware as a free download, so a “certified ethical hacker v13 PDF” passed around online is not an EC-Council release.
Be especially careful with a CEH certified ethical hacker PDF that claims to contain exam questions. EC-Council’s exam policy names using brain-dump material and disseminating actual exam content as misconduct, with sanctions up to revoked certifications and a permanent ban from EC-Council exams.
Source: EC-Council — Certification exam policy. Checked 9 October 2026.
CEH boot camp or self-study?
EC-Council structures its official CEH training as a five-day boot camp, with the exam typically at the end of day five. An official bootcamp also removes the two-year experience requirement. Self-study is cheaper if you already have that experience; either way, practice questions with an explanation for every answer option and a readiness score per domain show you whether you are ready before you buy the voucher.
Source: EC-Council — Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH). Checked 9 October 2026.
More CEH questions
What is certified ethical hacker in one sentence?
It is EC-Council’s credential for security professionals who understand attackers’ tools and techniques and use them, with permission, to find weaknesses.
What is CEH certification’s current version?
v13, which EC-Council markets as CEH AI. Earlier editions include v12 and v10. Checked 9 October 2026.
Is CEH a Cisco or CompTIA certification?
Neither. CEH is EC-Council’s. Cisco offers a free online Ethical Hacker course through its Networking Academy, and CompTIA’s penetration testing certification is PenTest+.
Is there a certified ethical hacker CompTIA exam?
No. CompTIA does not issue CEH. Its closest certification is PenTest+, a separate credential with its own exam, PT0-003.
How hard is CEH exam preparation without experience?
Harder, because the questions assume you recognise tools and attack phases quickly. Without two years of security experience you also have to take official training to be eligible.
How do I renew CEH?
Earn 120 continuing education credits per three-year cycle and pay the annual USD $80 continuing education fee. Source: EC-Council, checked 9 October 2026.
What is the certified ethical hacker master?
CEH (Master) is awarded to candidates who pass both the knowledge exam and the six-hour practical exam. Source: EC-Council, checked 9 October 2026.
CEH in detail
Exam fee: $1,199 — what the CEH exam costs, retakes included →
