What to Expect From a Penetration Test Report
12 Oct 2026 · XtremeAssistPro
The test itself is only half of the value of a penetration test. The other half is the report: it is what your developers fix from, what leadership reads, and what customers and auditors may ask to see. Here is what a good one contains.
An Executive Summary
A plain-English overview for people who will not read the technical detail: what was tested, the overall risk, the handful of issues that matter most and what to do about them.
Scope and Methodology
Exactly what was tested (and what was not), when, and against which standards, for example OWASP. This matters for audits, and it stops anyone assuming that "tested" means "everything".
Findings, Rated by Severity
Each finding should be rated (Critical, High, Medium, Low), ideally with a CVSS score, and listed in a summary table so you can see the picture at a glance.
Detailed Findings With Evidence
For every issue:
- what it is and where it is
- proof-of-concept evidence so your developers can reproduce it themselves
- the business impact, in terms of what an attacker could actually do
- specific remediation steps, not "sanitise user input"
A Remediation Plan
A prioritised list of fixes ranked by risk and effort, so a small team knows what to do on Monday morning.
A Plan for Retesting
Fixes should be verified. Ask whether retesting is included in the price, because some providers charge extra for it. We include it.
Signs of a Weak Report
- Raw scanner output with no verification
- Generic advice copied from a library
- No evidence, so findings cannot be reproduced
- No explanation of impact or priority
You can see the format we use in our sample report.