Certified Web Application Tester (CWAT) Industry-Standard Scenario-Based Web Application Security Certification

The Certified Web Application Tester (CWAT) certification is a comprehensive, industry-aligned assessment designed to evaluate a candidate’s ability to identify, analyze, and report security vulnerabilities in modern web applications.

CWAT focuses on real-world attack scenarios, practical decision-making, and security testing methodologies used by professional penetration testers and application security engineers. Unlike theoretical certifications, CWAT emphasizes how vulnerabilities appear in real applications, how attackers exploit them, and how testers should respond during an engagement.

The exam is delivered as an individual, proctored-style online assessment consisting of 600 scenario-based multiple-choice questions to be completed within 6 hours. Each question presents realistic testing situations including application behavior, HTTP traffic, authentication flows, business logic, APIs, and client-side interactions.

CWAT validates a candidate’s readiness to perform professional web application security testing in enterprise, startup, and consulting environments.

Key Exam Details

• Certification Name: Certified Web Application Tester (CWAT)

• Exam Format: Scenario-Based MCQs

• Total Questions: 600

• Duration: 6 Hours

• Difficulty Level: Intermediate to Advanced

• Delivery Mode: Individual Online Exam

• Platform: secbyte.org

CWAT Exam Syllabus (30 Topics)

Web Application Fundamentals

1. Web application architecture and components

2. HTTP/HTTPS protocol behavior

3. Request and response analysis

4. Cookies, sessions, and state management

Authentication & Session Security

5. Authentication mechanisms and flaws

6. Session management vulnerabilities

7. Password storage and credential handling

8. Multi-factor authentication weaknesses

Authorization & Access Control

9. Role-based and attribute-based access control

10. Insecure direct object references (IDOR)

11. Privilege escalation scenarios

12. Broken access control testing

Input Validation & Injection

13. SQL injection and database interaction flaws

14. Cross-site scripting (XSS)

15. Command injection and OS interaction

16. File upload and file inclusion vulnerabilities

Application Logic & Data Handling

17. Business logic vulnerabilities

18. Race conditions and workflow bypass

19. Data exposure and sensitive information leakage

20. Error handling and logging issues

Client-Side & Modern Web Security

21. Client-side validation bypass

22. JavaScript security and DOM manipulation

23. Cross-origin resource sharing (CORS) issues

24. Browser storage and security risks

API & Advanced Testing

25. API authentication and authorization flaws

26. API rate limiting and abuse scenarios

27. Deserialization and object handling issues

28. Security misconfigurations

Testing Methodology & Reporting

29. Web application testing methodologies

30. Vulnerability reporting and remediation guidance

Who Should Take CWAT

• Web application security testers

• Penetration testers and bug bounty hunters

• Application security engineers

• Developers interested in secure coding

• Cybersecurity students seeking practical certification