The GIAC Web Application Penetration Tester (GWAPT) credential proves a practitioner can find, exploit, and report real flaws in modern web applications. kodestree’s training will help you learn skills like reconnaissance, authentication attacks, SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, and session-management flaws using tools like Burp Suite and OWASP ZAP. Guided by practicing penetration testers, the course pairs live instruction with lab-driven practice, so candidates walk into the GWAPT exam, and their next client engagement, already tested.
Prerequisites
GIAC does not enforce formal prerequisites for the GWAPT exam itself, but candidates get the most value from this training when they already have:
- Basic working knowledge of the Linux command line
- Familiarity with how websites and web applications function
- A general understanding of HTTP/HTTPS and networking fundamentals
- Exposure to any programming or scripting language (Python is used heavily in the course)
- Interest or prior experience in IT security, QA, or system administration is helpful but not mandatory
Why Learn GIAC Web Application Penetration Tester (GWAPT)
Web applications remain one of the most attacked surfaces in any organization, and automated scanners alone routinely miss business-logic flaws, chained vulnerabilities, and authentication bypasses that a skilled human tester catches. The GWAPT certification exists precisely to validate that human skill. It is a GIAC Practitioner Certification, built directly on the SANS SEC542 curriculum, and assessed through GIAC’s CyberLive format, meaning candidates prove ability inside real virtual machines and real tools rather than answering theory-only multiple-choice questions. Professionals holding GWAPT report strong placement in penetration testing, application security, and bug-bounty roles, and the certification is recognized under the DoD 8140 directive for cybersecurity work roles. For anyone serious about offensive security as a specialization rather than a generalist path, GWAPT is one of the clearest, most technically respected ways to prove it.
Course Objectives
By the end of this training, you will be able to:
- Apply a structured, repeatable methodology (aligned with OWASP) to every web application penetration test you run
- Assess traditional server-rendered applications as well as modern API-driven, AJAX-heavy applications
- Differentiate genuine findings from false positives when reviewing automated scan output
- Manually uncover flaws that scanners typically miss
- Write basic Python scripts to support testing and exploitation tasks
- Identify and exploit SQL injection, command injection, and insecure deserialization issues
- Use interception proxies (Burp Suite, OWASP ZAP) to analyze and manipulate client-server traffic
- Explain the real business impact of each vulnerability class you find
- Plan and execute a complete, end-to-end web application penetration test
What You Will Learn
This course covers the full scope of the official GWAPT exam objectives, including:
- Web application architecture, HTTP/HTTPS mechanics, and core security concepts
- Reconnaissance, content discovery, spidering, and application mapping
- Authentication attacks- user enumeration, password guessing, and bypass techniques
- Session management flaws and how attackers abuse cookies, tokens, and SSL/TLS misconfigurations
- Configuration testing to uncover insecure server and application settings
- SQL injection – manual discovery, blind/error-based techniques, and tools like sqlmap
- Cross-Site Scripting (XSS), Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF), and client-side injection attacks
- SSRF and XML External Entity (XXE) exploitation
- Fuzzing techniques using Burp Intruder, ZAP, and ffuf
- Reporting findings in a way stakeholders and developers can actually act on
Who Is this Course For?
This program is built for professionals who want to test, secure, or build web applications with real technical depth:
- Security practitioners moving into offensive security
- Penetration testers and ethical hackers
- Web application developers who want to think like an attacker
- Website designers and architects responsible for secure design
- SOC analysts, QA engineers, and IT auditors expanding into AppSec
- Anyone preparing specifically for the GIAC GWAPT certification exam
Tools You Will Work With
- Burp Suite Professional
- OWASP ZAP (Zed Attack Proxy)
- sqlmap
- Browser Exploitation Framework (BeEF)
- ffuf and other fuzzing utilities
- Nuclei
- Metasploit Framework
- WPScan
- Python (for custom testing and exploitation scripts)
- Browser developer tools (for client-side analysis)
Skills You Will Gain
Graduates of this course walk away with practical, demonstrable skills, including:
- End-to-end web application penetration testing methodology
- Manual vulnerability discovery beyond what automated scanners report
- SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, SSRF, and XXE identification and exploitation
- Session and authentication attack techniques
- Proxy-based traffic analysis and manipulation
- Basic scripting for test automation and exploit development
- Professional-grade vulnerability reporting and business-impact communication
Career Outcomes
GWAPT-certified professionals are well positioned for roles such as:
- Web Application Penetration Tester
- Penetration Tester / Ethical Hacker
- Application Security Engineer
- Vulnerability Assessment Analyst
- Security Consultant (offensive/AppSec focus)
- Bug Bounty Hunter
- Senior Web Application Security Analyst
Why Choose kodestree for This Training?
kodestree pairs GWAPT’s technical depth with a learning structure built for working professionals:
- Live, instructor-led sessions with practicing penetration testers
- 100% hands-on labs mapped to real GWAPT exam objectives
- Flexible weekday/weekend batches for working professionals
- Access to recorded sessions for revision
- Resume, interview, and career-support guidance after course completion
- Post-training doubt-clearing and mentor support
