Pwnote offsec pen200

Offsec PEN-200 / OSCP Workflow

Reference for structuring PWK lab notes and producing an exam report that meets Offsec's grading requirements. Offsec grades on documentation completeness as much as exploitation success — sloppy evidence fails an otherwise-successful exam.

Security

• Never output flag values (local.txt, proof.txt) anywhere — use <REDACTED> as placeholder text
• Screenshots with flags are taken by the user, not generated by the agent
• Report templates include flag placeholders; the user fills in actual values from their own terminal output

1. Exam Report Structure

Offsec's required sections, in order:

1. Executive Summary
2. High-Level Summary of Vulnerabilities (table: host, vuln, severity)
3. Recommendations
4. Methodologies (information gathering, service enumeration, etc.)
5. Attack Narrative — one section per target host
   5.x [Hostname/IP]
     - Information Gathering
     - Service Enumeration
     - Exploitation
     - Privilege Escalation
     - Proof (local.txt AND proof.txt contents + screenshot)
6. Appendix (additional evidence, full tool output if needed)

Each target host section must independently stand alone — a grader should be able to reproduce that one host's compromise from that section alone, without referring back to another host's notes.

2. Screenshot / Evidence Discipline

Offsec's most common reason for exam point deductions is incomplete evidence, not incomplete exploitation. For every step that matters to the narrative:

• Screenshot shows the command typed, the output, and (where applicable) the flag/hash contents in the same frame
• Terminal prompt visible showing hostname/IP or user context, so it's clear which box/user the screenshot is from
• For privesc: screenshot the whoami/id before AND after, not just after
• For flag capture: screenshot cat proof.txt / type proof.txt output directly

Take screenshots as you go, not retroactively — retroactive reconstruction is where evidence gaps happen.

3. Lab Note Structure (separate from exam notes)

Keyed by lab network segment, since PWK labs are organized that way:

00_Lab_Overview
Segment_A/
  Host_[IP]_[hostname]
Segment_B/
  ...

Lab notes can be more exploratory/messy than exam notes — the point is coverage and technique practice, not a polished narrative. Convert to exam-report format only for the final submission.

4. Proof File Conventions

• local.txt — user-level flag, captured after initial foothold
• proof.txt — root/SYSTEM-level flag, captured after privilege escalation
• The report must include a flag section for each host; the user pastes the actual hash from their own screenshot
• Never modify, delete, or attempt to read these files' contents through any means other than their intended access — tampering is a code-of-conduct violation

5. Common Point-Loss Patterns to Avoid

• Skipping the "Information Gathering" subsection because it feels redundant with "Service Enumeration" — Offsec grades them as distinct
• Not explaining why a vulnerability exists, only that it was exploited
• Missing the offline/standalone target requirement in the report (some point categories are host-independent)