Published · By the Aesparrow Security Research Team
Short answer
A good VAPT report contains an executive summary for leadership, the scope and testing window, methodology and standards used, a risk-rated list of findings with CVSS scores, evidence and reproduction steps, business impact, specific remediation guidance, and a re-test section confirming which issues have been fixed.
What sections should a penetration testing report have?
- Executive summary: overall risk, key findings and priorities in plain language.
- Scope and rules of engagement: assets, dates, test type and exclusions.
- Methodology: standards followed, e.g. OWASP WSTG, PTES, NIST SP 800-115.
- Findings summary: counts by severity (critical, high, medium, low, informational).
- Detailed findings: description, affected asset, CVSS vector, CWE, evidence and reproduction steps.
- Business impact: what an attacker could achieve.
- Remediation: specific, prioritised fixes and references.
- Re-test results: status of each finding after fixes.
- Appendices: tools, tested endpoints and compliance mapping.
How are vulnerabilities rated in a VAPT report?
Most reports use the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS), maintained by FIRST, to score technical severity from 0 to 10, adjusted for business context. Weaknesses are classified with CWE identifiers, and known issues reference CVE IDs.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Clear answers about what we do — and what we don’t. If you have any other questions, feel free to reach out to our team.
How should vulnerabilities be prioritised after VAPT?
Fix critical and high findings on internet-facing and data-bearing systems first, especially those with public exploits, then medium issues, and track low findings as hardening items. Re-test to confirm closure.
How to fix vulnerabilities found during penetration testing?
Assign an owner and deadline per finding, apply the recommended code or configuration change, add a regression test, and request a re-test so the report shows the issue as closed.