The EC-Council Certified DevSecOps Engineer (ECDE) credential, validated through the 312-97 exam, demonstrates your ability to integrate security practices throughout the entire software development lifecycle. This exam is designed for developers, security professionals, and operations engineers who need to understand how to build, deploy, and maintain secure applications in modern DevOps environments. This guide provides a structured overview of the exam content, question formats, and practical preparation strategies to help you pass with confidence. Whether you're new to DevSecOps or advancing your career, understanding the 312-97 syllabus is the first step toward certification success.
Use this topic map to guide your study for Eccouncil 312-97 (EC-Council Certified DevSecOps Engineer (ECDE)) within the Certified DevSecOps Engineer path.
The 312-97 exam uses multiple question types to assess both foundational knowledge and the ability to make sound security decisions in DevOps contexts. Questions progress in difficulty and require you to apply concepts to realistic scenarios.
Questions become more complex as you progress, emphasizing integration across planning, coding, testing, release, and operations stages.
An effective study plan breaks the syllabus into manageable weekly blocks and combines reading, practice questions, and scenario review. Allocate more time to pipeline stages that align with your current role, but ensure you cover all domains to pass the comprehensive exam.
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The five DevSecOps Pipeline stages (Plan, Code, Build and Test, Release and Deploy, Operate and Monitor) form the bulk of the exam content. Within those, Code and Build/Test stages often feature more questions because they directly address vulnerability detection and remediation. However, understanding culture and introduction topics is essential for context; do not skip them.
Each stage builds on the previous one: threats identified in the Plan stage drive code review checklists in the Code stage; vulnerabilities found during Build and Test must be tracked through Release and Deploy; and issues discovered in production monitoring feed back into future planning cycles. Understanding these connections helps you answer scenario-based questions and apply concepts to your own work.
Practical experience with at least one CI/CD tool (Jenkins, GitLab CI, GitHub Actions) and one security scanning tool (SAST, DAST, or dependency scanner) is highly beneficial. If possible, set up a small pipeline in a lab environment and practice integrating security checks. This real-world exposure makes exam questions feel more concrete and improves retention.
Candidates often confuse DevOps principles with DevSecOps practices, overlook the importance of threat modeling in the Plan stage, or misunderstand how to prioritize vulnerabilities by severity. Another frequent error is selecting a tool-specific answer when the question asks for a general best practice. Read questions carefully and focus on the principle being tested, not just the tool mentioned.
In the final week, focus on your lowest-scoring topic areas from practice tests rather than re-reading all material. Do one full-length timed practice test mid-week, review mistakes, then do a second full-length test three days before your exam date. Avoid cramming new topics; instead, reinforce weak areas and build confidence through repeated, targeted practice.
(Richard Harris carries an experience of 5 years as a DevSecOps engineer. On February 1, 2022, he got the job of senior DevSecOps engineer in an IT company located Raleigh, North Carolin
a. He would like to trigger scan on each build in Jenkins, run customize scans for some specific vulnerabilities, fail the build process if a particular threat-level is reached, and generate reports automatically by integrating Acunetix DAST Tool with Jenkins. Richard installed Acunetix plugin successfully in Jenkins, after which he restarted Jenkins. He would like to find the path and install the certificate in Linux. Which of the following commands should Richard execute to find out the currently running Java binary in the Jenkins service?.)
To identify the currently running Java binary used by Jenkins, administrators typically inspect the running processes on the Linux system. The command ps -aux | grep Jenkins lists all active processes and filters those related to Jenkins. This output includes details such as the user, process ID, and the full command line used to start Jenkins, which often contains the path to the Java executable. The other options reference invalid or nonexistent commands (pc, as, ac). Locating the Java binary is necessary when installing certificates into the correct Java keystore, which is required for secure communication between Jenkins and tools like Acunetix. Performing this setup during the Build and Test stage ensures that DAST scans can run securely and reliably as part of automated pipelines.
(Evan Peters has been working as a DevSecOps engineer in an IT company located in Denver, Colorado. His organization has deployed various applications on Docker containers. Evan has been running SSH service inside the containers, and handling of SSH keys and access policies is a major security concern for him. What will be the solution for Evan security concern?)
Running an SSH service inside Docker containers is considered a security anti-pattern because it increases the attack surface and complicates key and access management. Containers are designed to run a single primary process and be managed externally rather than accessed via SSH. The recommended solution is to run SSH on the host system and use docker exec to interact with containers when administrative access is required. This approach eliminates the need to manage SSH keys inside containers, reduces exposure to brute-force attacks, and simplifies access control. The other options incorrectly suggest running SSH in inappropriate locations such as the registry, client, or build process, which do not address the core security concern. During the Operate and Monitor stage, minimizing unnecessary services within containers is critical to enforcing least privilege and maintaining a secure runtime environment.
(Brady Coleman is a senior DevSecOps engineer at CloudVac Security Private Ltd. He has created a new container named ''eccbrad'' from the centos:7 image using the command docker run -i -t --name geeklab centos:7 /bin/bash. Now, Brady wants to install the httpd package inside the eccbrad container. Which of the following commands should Brady use to install the httpd package inside the container?)
The CentOS operating system uses the yum package manager to install software packages. Inside a CentOS-based Docker container, the correct way to install the Apache HTTP Server is by running yum install httpd. Containers typically run as the root user by default, making the use of sudo unnecessary. Commands such as install-httpd are invalid because yum requires the install keyword followed by the package name separated by a space. Installing required packages inside containers should be done carefully to avoid bloating images and increasing the attack surface. During the Operate and Monitor stage, DevSecOps teams must balance functionality with container hardening best practices by installing only necessary components.
(Sarah Wheeler is an experienced DevSecOps engineer. She recently joined an IT company that develops software products for customers stretched across the globe. Sarah would like to use a security testing tool that protects the application from false positives, network sniffing, tampering with code, etc. The tool should monitor the incoming traffic to the server and APIs for suspicious activities and help her team in remediating them during runtime. Which of the following tools should Sarah select that will help her team in precisely detecting and remediating the security issues in the application code during runtime?.)
Runtime Application Self-Protection (RASP) operates from within the application runtime environment, monitoring incoming traffic, API calls, and execution behavior in real time. Because it has deep visibility into application logic and execution context, RASP can accurately detect attacks such as injection, tampering, and abnormal behavior while minimizing false positives. SAST analyzes source code statically, DAST tests running applications externally, and IAST combines some runtime insight with testing but does not actively block threats. RASP's ability to detect and remediate attacks during runtime makes it ideal for protecting applications in production environments, aligning with the Operate and Monitor stage of the DevSecOps pipeline.
(Scott Adkins has recently joined an IT company located in New Orleans, Louisiana, as a DevSecOps engineer. He would like to build docker infrastructure using Terraform; therefore, he has created a directory named terraform-docker-container. He then changed into the directory using the command: cd terraform-docker-container. Now, Scott wants to create a file to define the infrastructure. Which of the following commands should Scott use to create a file to define the infrastructure?)
Terraform infrastructure definitions are written in files with the .tf extension, commonly named main.tf. To create a new, empty file where infrastructure code can be added, the correct command is touch main.tf. This command creates the file without adding any content, allowing Scott to begin defining Docker infrastructure using Terraform syntax. The cat command is used to display file contents, not create files. The echo command prints text to standard output and does not create files unless output redirection is used. The command sudo main.tf is invalid and does not create files. Creating Terraform configuration files during the Release and Deploy stage supports Infrastructure as Code practices, enabling version control, repeatability, and security validation of infrastructure deployments. This approach allows DevSecOps teams to define, review, and deploy infrastructure in a consistent and auditable manner.
