OSED

The OSED exam is a 48-hour proctored hands-on assessment conducted in a private VPN by an OffSec employee. It consists of 3 independent exploit tasks where you must reverse engineer to discover vulnerabilities, craft exploits to bypass security mitigations, and create custom shellcode. You must obtain a shell and retrieve a proof.txt file located on the desktop of the administrator user.

The OSED is considered an advanced-level certification. Learner testimonials describe it as extremely challenging, requiring you to combine stack and SEH overflows, reverse engineering, custom shellcode, egghunters, DEP and ASLR bypass, and custom ROP chains. Success demands persistence and the ability to work through complex, low-level exploitation problems under time pressure.

No. Unlike the OSCP+, OSIR, and OSTH, the OffSec Exploit Developer (OSED) certification does not expire. Once earned, it remains valid without renewal.

There are no formal prerequisites, but OffSec encourages familiarity with debuggers such as Immunity Debugger and OllyDBG, basic exploitation concepts on 32-bit, and writing Python 3 code. Optional skills include reading and understanding C code and 32-bit assembly at a basic level. Strong Windows internals and debugging experience is highly recommended.

Work through the 13 EXP-301 modules and their hands-on labs, then complete the 3 Challenge Labs, which are specifically designed to test your understanding and prepare you for the exam. Focus on reverse engineering with IDA Pro and a debugger, writing custom shellcode, and bypassing DEP and ASLR. Practice until you can chain techniques independently under time constraints.

The exam covers reverse engineering binary applications to locate vulnerabilities, stack buffer overflow exploitation, custom shellcode development, bypassing modern mitigations such as DEP and ASLR, and format string vulnerability exploitation including developing a read primitive. These align with the EXP-301 course content.

The OSED is relevant for specialized offensive security roles including Exploit Developer, Security Researcher, Reverse Engineer, Vulnerability Analyst, Advanced Penetration Tester, Red Team Operator, and Malware Analyst. It demonstrates deep understanding of low-level system internals and vulnerability exploitation.

The available source does not state a passing score for the OSED exam. Candidates should consult the official exam guide or OffSec directly for scoring details.

The source does not specify the exam fee. Pricing for courses and bundles is listed on the OffSec website, but the exact exam-only fee is not provided in the available material.

The source does not describe a retake policy for the OSED exam. For information on retakes, candidates should refer to OffSec's official policies or contact OffSec support.