Penetration Testing Report Explanation and Downloadable PDF

A penetration testing report is a formal, written document that summarises the whole penetration test and its outcome for the client organisation. The penetration testing report explains what was tested, what was found, why it matters, and what should be done next. The reporting provides evidence of real-world exploitability and helps organisations understand risk exposure, provide remediation, compliance, and help take strategic security decisions.

A penetration testing report includes an overview of the engagement, defined scope and objectives, testing methodology, risk scores, detailed findings with evidence, impact analysis, and remediation recommendations. The creation of a penetration testing report follows a logical process that starts with defining objectives and audience, structuring the report, summarising engagement results, documenting methodology and findings, analysing impact, recommending remediation, and completing quality review before final delivery.

Although the core structure of a penetration testing report remains consistent, the content and focus differ depending on the type of penetration testing performed, such as web application, network, cloud, or black box testing. This variation of content ensures that the report represents the specific attack surface, threat model, tools, and risk relevant to each testing type, which makes the report accurate and actionable.

What is a Penetration testing report?

A penetration testing report is a formal document that details the results of a penetration test conducted on an organisation’s system, applications, or network, including findings, methods and recommendations. A penetration testing report includes the scope of the assessment, the methodologies and techniques used during testing, the vulnerabilities identified, their associated risk severity, and the recommended remediation measures to address the findings. According to Katarína Galanská et al. in their research “From Reports to Actions: Bridging the Customer Usability Gap in Penetration Testing”, published in 2025, penetration testing reports help organisations identify and mitigate security vulnerabilities. A penetration testing report is important for organisations to effectively understand, prioritise, and act on security vulnerabilities to improve cybersecurity outcomes.

Penetration testing reports are important because they convert security testing into actionable business and technical insights. The main purpose of a penetration testing report includes identifying vulnerabilities, risk assessment, providing remediation guidance, compliance and audit support and a security improvement roadmap.

A penetration testing report is created by a professional penetration testing provider or certified ethical hackers who perform the assessment. They are certified professionals holding industry-recognised certifications like CEH, OSCP, and CPTE that demonstrate their skills and ethical standards. Organisations use their own IT security staff or internal testers or contract third-party security firms (external testers) to ensure objectivity and broader expertise.

Penetration testing reports are typically delivered in professional, easy-to-share document formats such as PDF, DOC/DOCX, HTML/Web-based reports and CSV/XLSX.

What does a penetration testing report look like?

A penetration testing report is a professionally structured document that clearly defines the result of a security assessment to both technical teams and business stakeholders. According to A. Alghamdi, in his research, “Effective Penetration Testing Report Writing”, published on Oct 7, 2021, effective penetration testing report writing should include an executive summary, penetration testing, testing goals, and remedial options for identified vulnerabilities.

The report usually starts with a cover page containing the organisation name, test type (web, network, internal), date, and tester details. This cover page is followed by an executive summary, written in non-technical language, which explains the overall security posture, key risks, and high-level findings so that management can quickly understand the impact.

The next section comprises scope and methodology, which defines what systems were tested, what was excluded, the testing approach used (black box, grey box, white box), and the standards or frameworks followed. This section ensures transparency and avoids misunderstandings.

The core of the report is the detailed findings section. Each vulnerability is documented with a clear title, severity rating, technical description, evidence (screenshots, payloads, logs), impact explanation, and step-by-step remediation guidance. This core section is written primarily for developers, system administrators, and security teams.

Most penetration testing reports also include a risk rating table, vulnerability summary charts, and sometimes attack paths showing how an attacker could move through the system. Finally, the report ends with a conclusion and next steps, often recommending remediation timelines and a retest.

What is included in a penetration testing report?

A penetration testing report is a comprehensive security document made up of mandatory and supplementary components.

The main 15 components of a penetration testing report are described below.

Cover Page (Compulsory)

A cover page is the first page of the penetration testing report that identifies the assessment at a glance. The cover page establishes authenticity, professionalism, and traceability. It defines who performed the test, for whom, and when, which is essential for audits and compliance. It includes basic metadata such as organisation name, test type, date, version, and confidentiality notice. The further classification on a cover page includes client details, tester/provider details, report versioning, and confidentiality level. It confirms that the document is an official security assessment report and defines its ownership and validity period.

Document control & version history (Compulsory)

Document control and version history is a section that records changes made to the report over time. The purpose of this section is to ensure accountability and prevent confusion when multiple versions of the report exist. Each update is logged with the version number, date, author, and description of changes. It shows how findings evolved and confirms whether vulnerabilities were retested or updated.

Executive summary (Compulsory)

An executive summary is a high-level, non-technical summary of the penetration testing results. This summary is designed for senior management and decision-makers; it explains risk without technical complexity. An executive summary summarises the overall security posture, major risks and business impact. It includes an overall risk rating, a key findings overview and a business impact summary. This section explains how secure it is and what the risk is to the business.

Objectives of the penetration test (Compulsory)

Objectives of the penetration test are a clear statement of why the penetration test was conducted. It aligns testing activities with business and security goals. Penetration testing objectives are defined before testing and validated during reporting. It includes compliance-driven objectives, risk-based objectives and security maturity assessment. It clarifies what success looks like and ensures findings are explained correctly.

Scope of testing (Compulsory)

The scope of testing defines what systems, applications, networks, or assets were tested and what were excluded. It prevents misunderstanding and legal issues by clearly defining boundaries. It lists in-scope IPs, domains, applications, APIs, and exclusions. It defines in-scope assets, out-of-scope assets, and time and access limitations. It explains where the testers were allowed to attack and where they were not.

Rules of engagement (Compulsory)

Rules of engagement define the agreed-upon rules governing how testing is performed. It ensures testing is ethical, legal and performed in a controlled way. It defines testing windows, attack limitations, escalation contacts, and data handling rules. Rules of engagement also include allowed techniques, restricted actions and incident response coordination.

Methodology & standards used (Compulsory)

Methodology and standards explain the testing approach and frameworks followed in penetration testing. It demonstrates professionalism and industry alignment. It describes phases such as reconnaissance, exploitation and reporting. It explains how vulnerabilities were discovered.

Tools & techniques used (Compulsory)

Tools and techniques include a list of tools, scripts and methods used during penetration testing. It adds transparency and technical credibility. This section is important because it shows that vulnerabilities were identified using recognised security testing methods rather than assumptions. It lists tools according to testing phases, such as reconnaissance, scanning, and exploitation. This section may be classified into automated tools and manual testing techniques. It helps readers understand the technical depth and reliability of the penetration testing process.

Risk ratings & severity model (Compulsory)

The risk ratings and severity model define how vulnerabilities are classified based on impact and possibility. It prioritises findings and supports remediation planning. This helps organisations focus on vulnerabilities that pose the highest risk. This assigns the vulnerabilities based on severity levels such as critical, high, medium, low, and informational. This may further classify risks using scoring systems or qualitative assessments. This section explains how technical weaknesses translate into measurable security risk.

Vulnerability summary (Compulsory)

The vulnerability summary provides an overview of all identified findings. It defines the total number of vulnerabilities and their distribution across severity levels. The purpose of this summary is to give a quick overview of the organisation’s security weaknesses. It enables rapid prioritisation and planning. It gives a high-level understanding of the overall outcome of the penetration test.

Detailed findings (Compulsory)

The detailed findings section is the core of the penetration testing report. It documents each vulnerability with technical details, exploitation evidence, impact analysis, and remediation guidance. This section provides actionable information for fixing security issues. It enables developers and security teams to understand exactly how vulnerabilities can be exploited. It demonstrates how the penetration test simulates real-world attacker behaviour.

Evidence & proof of concept (Compulsory)

The evidence and proof of concept section provides screenshots, logs, payloads, and outputs that prove successful exploitation. This section validates findings and removes uncertainty. It establishes trust in results and attaches evidence directly to each finding. This section demonstrates that vulnerabilities are real and exploitable.

Remediation recommendations (Compulsory)

The remediation recommendations section guides how to fix identified vulnerabilities. It translates findings into security improvements. This maps recommendations to vulnerabilities and shows how penetration testing leads to measurable risk reduction.

Conclusion & next steps (Compulsory)

The conclusion summarises the overall results of the penetration test and outlines the recommended next actions. The purpose of this conclusion section is to provide closure and direction. This section is important for planning remediation, restesting, and long-term security improvements. This section reinforces key outcomes and future actions.

Appendices (Supplementary)

This appendix section contains supporting technical information such as raw scan outputs, references, and methodology details. It keeps the main report concise while preserving depth. This section is important for technical validation and audits. It separates detailed data from executive content and reinforces the technical accuracy of the penetration testing report.

How to create a penetration testing report?

The creation of a penetration testing report is a systematic process that ensures vulnerabilities are identified, analysed and communicated effectively to both technical teams and business stakeholders. Yu.M. Lisetskyi et al state in their research, “Penetration testing as a means of increasing the level of information systems cyber protection”, published on January 1, 2025. The important part of a penetration testing report is the analysis, which combines information with a detailed assessment of the potential impact on the organisation and provides the scope of technical and procedural measures to minimise risks.

1. Define Report Objectives & Audience: Defining the report objectives and audience includes identifying exploitable vulnerabilities, meeting regulatory requirements, or assessing overall security posture. The audience is also defined, which includes senior management, compliance teams, developers, system administrators, and external auditors. This step is essential because different audiences require different levels of technical details and risk explanation. The report can balance technical depth with business relevance by defining objectives and audience early. It ensures findings are meaningful and actionable for all stakeholders.
2. Plan Report Structure: Planning the report structure involves designing the logical flow and layout of the penetration testing report before writing begins. Planning report structure includes deciding on sections such as executive summary, scope, methodology, findings, remediation, and appendices. This ensures consistency, readability, and completeness. A well-planned structure allows readers to quickly locate information relevant to their role, whether they are executives looking for risk summaries or technical teams searching for remediation steps. This ensures no critical information is missed and that the penetration test results are presented professionally and systematically.
3. Executive & Engagement Summary: The executive and engagement summary includes a concise, high-level overview of the penetration testing engagement and its outcomes. This summary defines what was tested, why it was tested, and what the overall results mean for the organisation. It communicates risk and security posture in non-technical language suitable for leadership and business stakeholders. Executives often rely solely on this executive & engagement summary section to make decisions regarding risk acceptance, remediation budget, and security priorities. The executive and engagement summary involves summarising key findings, overall risk ratings, and major concerns without exposing technical complexity.
4. Methodology & Rules of Engagement: The methodology and rules of engagement section explain how the penetration test was conducted and under what conditions. It defines the testing approach used, such as white-box, grey-box, or black-box testing, and references any standards or frameworks followed. The rules of engagement describe authorised activities, testing windows, limitations, and escalation processes. This step establishes transparency, legality, and ethical compliance of the testing process. It clearly documents the techniques and constraints applied during testing and ensures that findings are trusted and defensible.
5. Findings & Evidence (with Risk Ratings): The findings and evidence section documents all identified vulnerabilities in detail. Each finding is defined with a technical description, exploited method, affected assets, and supporting evidence such as screenshots or logs. Risk ratings are applied to each vulnerability based on impact, severity, and possibility. It provides verified proof that vulnerabilities are real and exploitable. This section demonstrates how attackers could compromise systems using the identified weaknesses.
6. Impact Analysis & Prioritisation: Impact analysis and prioritisation define the real-world consequences of the identified vulnerabilities. This section describes the potential impact of each vulnerability on business operations, data confidentiality, system availability, regulatory compliance, and reputation. The purpose of impact analysis and prioritisation is to move beyond technical risk and highlight business impact. This section links technical findings to potential attack scenarios and business outcomes, which enable informed prioritisation of remediation efforts.
7. Remediation & Implementation Plan: The remediation and implementation plan provides clear guidance on how to fix the identified vulnerabilities. The remediation and implementation plan defines recommended security controls, code fixes, configuration changes, or process improvements. It ensures that penetration testing leads to actual risk reduction. This section maps remediation actions to findings and, where applicable, suggests short-term and long-term solutions.
8. Review, QA & Proofreading: The review, quality assurance, and proofreading stage ensures the accuracy, clarity, and professionalism of the penetration testing report. Review, QA and proofreading validate technical findings, checking risk ratings, verifying evidence, and correcting language or formatting issues. This section eliminates errors which can save from serious consequences during audit, legal reviews, and executive decision-making.
9. Final Approval & Delivery: Final approval and delivery mark the completion of the penetration testing report creation process. This step involves obtaining sign-off from authorised personnel and securely delivering the report to the client. This section formally concludes the engagement and ensures the report reaches the intended stakeholders in a secure format. This includes delivering the report in approved formats such as PDF or DOC, along with a presentation or walkthrough. This stage confirms that the penetration testing engagement has been completed professionally and responsibly.

Cyphere’s penetration testing report methodology follows a clear, structured lifecycle that ensures accuracy, clarity, and business relevance. From defining report objectives and audience to documenting validated findings with risk ratings, impact analysis, and remediation guidance, each stage is designed to make results actionable for both technical and non-technical stakeholders. The process concludes with thorough quality assurance and secure delivery, ensuring the final report is professional, defensible, and ready to support informed decision-making, remediation planning, and compliance needs.

What are the best practices to follow when creating a penetration testing report?

The 8 important best practices to follow when creating a penetration testing report are listed below.

1. Write for multiple audiences: A penetration testing report should cover both technical and non-technical details. Executives need a clear understanding of risk and business impact, while developers and security teams require technical detail for remediation.
2. Be clear, precise, and consistent: Vulnerability descriptions, severity ratings, terminology, and formatting should remain clear and consistent throughout the report. Avoid vague language or assumptions, and ensure every finding is explained in a precise and repeatable manner.
3. Use an industry-aligned risk rating model: All the vulnerabilities should be rated using a defined and transparent risk model. This model enables accurate prioritisation and aligns findings with business risk management.
4. Provide evidence for every finding: Every reported vulnerability should include verifiable evidence, such as screenshots, logs, or proof-of-concept outputs. This helps in report credibility and also allows technical teams to reproduce and validate issues during remediation.
5. Make remediation clear and actionable: Remediation guidance should be specific, realistic, and prioritised. Where possible, differentiate between short-term fixes and long-term improvements.
6. Maintain scope and context accuracy: Ensure findings are within the agreed scope and are clearly associated with in-scope assets. Out-of-scope observations should be labelled separately. This can prevent confusion and avoid legal or contractual issues.
7. Protect confidentiality and data sensitivity: Penetration testing reports contain highly sensitive information; thus, using secure delivery methods and applying confidentiality labels is essential to limit distribution.
8. Ensure quality assurance and peer review: The report should undergo technical validation and editorial review. This includes verifying findings, confirming risk ratings, checking evidence, and proofreading for errors.

What are the different ways to create a penetration testing report?

Listed below are the 2 ways to create a penetration testing report.

1. Automated Penetration Testing Report: An automated penetration testing report is created using security scanning tools or platforms that automatically test systems for known vulnerabilities and produce a report based on scan results. Automated reporting scans target systems using vulnerability scanners or PTaaS platforms. The tools identify potential security weaknesses, assign severity ratings, and automatically compile the results into a structured report. The report includes vulnerability names, affected assets, CVE references, severity scores and basic remediation advice. This process is fast and needs minimal human intervention once configured. One of the unique features of automated penetration testing reports is speed and scalability. Large environments can be scanned, and reports can be created almost instantly. Automated reports are also highly suitable for continuous testing and regular security monitoring. Automated reports are usually created using tools such as vulnerability scanners, web application scanners, network scanners, or a PTaaS platform. These tools follow rule-based analysis, signature-based detection, and sometimes basic exploitation checks. Organisations should choose automated penetration testing reports to have a quick visibility into common vulnerabilities, compliance support, frequent assessments, or baseline security checks. Automated reports are ideal for routine scanning, large infrastructure, and early-stage security programs.
2. Manual Penetration Testing Report: A manual penetration testing report is created by a skilled penetration tester who actively tests systems using human expertise, critical thinking and real-world attack simulation. The manual penetration testing report is based on hands-on testing. Manual reporting documents findings discovered through exploratory testing, privilege escalation, exploitation attempts, and attack chaining. Penetration testers assess vulnerabilities manually, confirm exploitability, and collect evidence before documenting results. The tester then writes a report to ensure accuracy, clarity and relevance. Each finding is explained in detail, including how it was exploited, why it is important, and how it can be fixed. The one unique feature of a manual penetration testing report is depth and accuracy. Manual reports contain fewer false positives and provide realistic attack scenarios, business impact explanations and prioritised remediation advice. They often include chained vulnerabilities, attack paths, and insights that automated tools cannot detect. Penetration testers use a combination of techniques to create manual penetration testing reports, including manual reconnaissance, custom payloads, logic testing, lateral movement analysis and privilege escalation. Tools may still be used to support penetration testers. Organisations should choose a manual penetration testing report that requires high assurance, test complex applications, want to simulate real attackers, or must satisfy regulatory or client-driven security requirements. They are ideal for critical systems, financial applications, and environments where business logic flaws or advanced threats are a concern.

The best way to create a penetrating testing report is a manual penetration testing report supported by automated tools. Organisations achieve the strongest security outcomes by using automated testing methodology for broad visibility and a manual penetration testing report style for deep, high-risk assessments.

Is the penetration Testing report the same for all types of Penetration testing?

No, a penetrating testing report is not the same for all types of penetration testing. The core structure of a penetration testing report, such as executive summary, scope, methodology, findings, risk ratings, and remediation, remains consistent. Still, the content, focus, depth, and evidence depend on the type of penetration test performed. Each testing type targets different technologies, threat models, attack surfaces, and risk contexts. For example, a cloud environment presents significantly different risks compared to a web application or an internal network, and reporting must accurately present those differences along with actionable remediation steps.

Listed below are 4 types of penetration testing reports.

Cloud Penetration Testing Report

A cloud penetration testing report documents security risks specific to cloud environments such as AWS, Azure, or GCP. The report usually includes findings related to shared responsibility models, API security, role abuse, and cross-service attack paths. A cloud penetration testing report is helpful because cloud breaches often result from configuration errors rather than traditional software vulnerabilities, and the report highlights risks unique to cloud architectures. Cloud penetration testing reports use tools like ScoutSuite, Prowler, Pacu, and native cloud logging and IAM analysis tools.

Web Application Penetration Testing Report

A web application penetration testing report focuses on vulnerabilities within web-based applications, APIs, and user-facing systems. A web application penetration testing report includes findings related to authentication flaws, access control issues, injection attacks, cross-site scripting (XSS), business logic flaws, and insecure session handling. Web application reports often align with standards such as OWASP Top 10 and include detailed reproduction steps and payloads. This report uses common tools like Burp Suite, OWASP ZAP, SQLmap, and manual testing techniques.

Network Penetration Testing Report

A network penetration testing report documents security weaknesses in internal or external network infrastructure. It includes findings related to weak services, open ports, outdated protocols, insecure configurations, credential exposure, lateral movement, and privilege escalation across systems. This type of report is particularly helpful for IT and infrastructure teams, as it demonstrates how an attacker could move through the network to compromise critical assets. Network penetration testing reports use tools like Nmap, Nessus, Metasploit, CrackMapExec, and Active Directory enumeration tools.

Black Box Penetration Testing Report

In a black box penetration testing report, the penetration tester has no prior knowledge of the internal systems and simulates an attacker’s perspective. The report focuses on what can be discovered and exploited without credentials or insider access. It includes reconnaissance results, exposed attack surfaces, externally exploitable vulnerabilities, and realistic attack scenarios. Black box testing report tools vary depending on the target and may include reconnaissance, scanning, and exploitation tools used without privileged access. This reporting approach is often used in regulatory or risk-based testing scenarios to measure external threat exposure.

What are the Benefits of a penetration testing report for organisations?

The top 10 benefits of a penetration testing report are listed below.

1. Clear visibility of security weaknesses: A penetration testing report provides organisations with a clear understanding of real, exploitable vulnerabilities present across applications, systems, and network infrastructure.
2. Risk-based prioritisation: The report helps organisations prioritise remediation efforts by ranking vulnerabilities based on risk, impact, and likelihood of exploitation.
3. Actionable remediation guidance: It includes detailed, practical remediation recommendations that enable technical teams to fix vulnerabilities efficiently and correctly.
4. Improved security posture: By addressing validated and tested security weaknesses, organisations can significantly strengthen their overall security defences.
5. Executive-level risk understanding: The report translates technical findings into business-level risks, enabling senior management to make informed security decisions.
6. Regulatory and compliance support: Penetration testing reports serve as formal evidence for meeting regulatory and compliance requirements such as ISO 27001, PCI DSS, and GDPR.
7. Reduced breach possibility: Identifying attack paths early helps organisations prevent real-world exploitation and reduce the risk of data breaches.
8. Validation of security controls: The report verifies whether existing security controls, such as firewalls and access controls, are functioning as intended.
9. Better security planning and budgeting: Insights from the report help organisations plan security initiatives and allocate budgets based on measured risk and technical evidence.
10. Baseline for future testing: A penetration testing report establishes a security baseline that allows organisations to measure improvement and track risk reduction over time.