What the CompTIA CySA+ CS0-003 is and who it is for
The CompTIA CySA+ is CompTIA’s intermediate cybersecurity certification, sitting between Security+ and SecurityX. It validates that you can detect, analyse and respond to threats through continuous security monitoring, and it covers security operations, vulnerability management, incident response and reporting. It is DoD 8140 approved across multiple analyst and responder work roles, including SOC analyst, threat intelligence analyst and vulnerability assessment analyst. CompTIA recommends four years of hands on security experience.
It is for you if you work in or want to work in a security operations centre, if your job is triaging alerts and managing vulnerabilities, or if a role or contract you want names CySA+ specifically.
One thing to settle first: CS0-003 is the V3 exam and it is retiring. The English exam retires on 22 December 2026 and the Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish exams on 23 March 2027, and the replacement CS0-004 launched on 23 June 2026. This guide is for candidates sitting CS0-003 before those dates.
CompTIA CySA+ CS0-003 at a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Exam code | CS0-003 |
| Questions | Up to 85, including performance based questions |
| Time allowed | 165 minutes |
| Passing score | 750 on a scale of 900 |
| Exam fee | US$439 per voucher |
| Where you sit it | Pearson VUE testing centres or online proctored |
| Certification valid for | 3 years |
What is on the exam
Four domains. The first two together are 63% of the exam.
Security operations (33%). The daily work of an analyst: system and network architecture from a monitoring point of view, indicators of potentially malicious activity, the tools and techniques used to investigate, threat intelligence and threat hunting, and process improvement in a security operations centre. Expect log excerpts, SIEM output and packet or email evidence to interpret.
Vulnerability management (30%). Scanning methods and concepts, analysing scan output, prioritising vulnerabilities by context rather than by score alone, recommending controls to mitigate them, and the vulnerability response and handling concepts that sit around the scans.
Incident response management (20%). Attack methodology frameworks and the incident response lifecycle: detection, analysis, containment, eradication, recovery and post incident activity. Questions here often give you a stage of an incident and ask for the correct next action.
Reporting and communication (17%). How you write up vulnerability findings and incident reports, who needs to know what and when, metrics and key performance indicators, and the stakeholder communication that follows an incident. The smallest domain, but it is the one experienced analysts most often skip.
Why people fail it
CySA+ is not an exam you can get through on general security knowledge. It is scenario heavy and analyst focused: it tests whether you can interpret SIEM output, triage alerts, prioritise vulnerabilities and walk through an incident response, not whether you can define the concepts. The performance based questions put you in simulated SOC environments and ask you to make the call.
The candidates who fail are often experienced security professionals who underestimated how specifically CompTIA frames its analyst scenarios. Knowing the attack frameworks is not the same as knowing how CS0-003 asks about them. The exam wants CompTIA’s answer to a CompTIA scenario, and a strong analyst who answers the way their own SOC would can pick a defensible option that is not the one being marked.
Time is the other trap. Up to 85 questions in 165 minutes is comfortable for multiple choice, but a PBQ that asks you to work through a set of logs can absorb a large share of it. Candidates who have not rehearsed the format under a clock lose minutes they needed at the end. Finally, weighting: security operations and vulnerability management are 63% between them, and a plan that spends equal time on all four domains leaves the biggest two under prepared.
A study plan that fits the exam
Six weeks, weighted to the domains: two each for security operations and vulnerability management, one shared by incident response and reporting, one for timed practice. Check your exam date against the retirement dates before you start.
- Week 1: security operations, part one. Architecture concepts from a monitoring standpoint, then indicators of malicious activity across network, host and application evidence. Try the free CySA+ practice questions at the end of the week to see the scenario style.
- Week 2: security operations, part two. Investigation tools and techniques, threat intelligence, threat hunting and process improvement. Work the security operations questions in the CS0-003 practice question pack and read every explanation, including the wrong options.
- Week 3: vulnerability management, part one. Scanning methods, scan output and the context that changes a vulnerability’s priority. Practise reading scanner reports until you can rank findings quickly.
- Week 4: vulnerability management, part two. Controls, mitigations, response and handling. Then a mixed set of questions across the first two domains.
- Week 5: incident response and reporting. Attack frameworks and the incident lifecycle for the first half of the week, then reports, metrics and stakeholder communication. Do not skip reporting because it feels soft: it is 17% of your score.
- Week 6: timed runs. Use the questions only PDF for full sittings against the 165 minute limit, score by domain, and spend the remaining days on whatever came out lowest.
On exam day
You sit CS0-003 at a Pearson VUE testing centre or online with a proctor. For online delivery, check the room, desk and webcam requirements on the vendor page in advance and run the system test on the computer you will use. For a centre, bring the identification your booking confirmation lists and arrive early.
The exam is up to 85 questions, including PBQs, in 165 minutes. Set a pace at the start. Work through the multiple choice items steadily, and if a PBQ is going to take a long time, flag it if the interface allows and come back with the time you have saved. The passing score is 750 on a scale of 900. The scale is not a straight percentage, so do not try to count your marks during the exam. Answer every question and keep moving.
Frequently asked questions
When does CS0-003 retire?
The English exam retires on 22 December 2026, and the Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish exams retire on 23 March 2027. The replacement exam, CS0-004, launched on 23 June 2026. If you cannot sit CS0-003 before the relevant date, study for CS0-004 instead.
What happens if I fail? Can I retake it?
You can, but every attempt needs a new voucher at the full fee, currently US$439, and with the retirement date approaching you may not have time for a second attempt on CS0-003. CompTIA publishes its retake policy, including any waiting period, on its website, so check it before you book. The practice pack is refunded if you fail, but the voucher is not, so do your timed practice before your first attempt.
Is the practice question pack enough on its own?
No. It is 627 practice questions, MCQs and PBQs, with an explanation for every answer and every wrong option, mapped to the CS0-003 objectives. It is a practice tool: it shows you CompTIA’s framing, tests what you know and points at your gaps. It is not a course, and it does not replace a study guide or real experience reading logs and scanner output. Use it alongside your learning material, not instead of it.
When you are ready to practise, get the 627 question CS0-003 pack for US$39, pass or your money back.