Scans and statuses

Understand scan lifecycle and status indicators in Pentest-Tools.com

Scan lifecycle

Every scan moves through a predictable sequence from creation to results.

1. Waiting

   The platform accepted the scan and placed it in the queue. We hold it here until workers are available and any required VPN/agent is ready.

2. Running

   The scanner is actively probing the target. You can stop it from the UI, but stopping is permanent (there is no resume).

3. Wrap-up & results

   Once the scanner finishes, we compile findings and metadata, then mark the scan as finished or the appropriate terminal status.

Schedule scans during off-peak hours to reduce queue time and keep throughput high.

Scan statuses (runtime)

These labels map to the runtime ScanStatus enum used by the platform.

Status label	What it means	Typical next step
Waiting	Scan is queued and not yet executing	Keep the tab open; it should transition to Running automatically
Running	Scanner is actively working	Monitor progress or stop if needed
Finished	Scanner completed and results are ready	Review findings and download the report
Stopped	You or the system stopped the run	Rerun after adjusting scope or timing
Timeout	Scan exceeded the allowed duration	Narrow scope or increase timeout where supported
Start Error	Scan failed before it could start	Contact support (internal tool issue)
Aborted	Platform terminated the scan unexpectedly	Contact support
VPN Error	Required VPN connection could not be established	Verify VPN agent status and credentials
Authentication Error	Provided auth to the target failed	Update credentials or verification tokens
Connection Error	Network connection to target failed	Confirm DNS/ports/firewall and try again
Skipped	Run bypassed because a block/robot rule prevented execution	Adjust robot rules or allowlisting, then rerun

Status flow

Waiting → Running → Finished
  ↘              ↘ Stopped
  Start Error    ↘ Timeout
                 ↘ Aborted / VPN Error / Authentication Error / Connection Error / Skipped

Running and Waiting are the only active states. Everything else is terminal. Finished, Stopped, and Timeout retain partial or full results. Aborted and VPN Error may also retain partial results if the scan ran for some time before stopping. Authentication Error, Connection Error, and Skipped produce no results. The scan never started.

Understanding scan results

When a scan completes, you’ll see:

Findings count	Number of vulnerabilities discovered
Severity breakdown	Distribution by severity level
Scan duration	How long the scan took
Coverage	What was tested

A completed scan with zero findings doesn’t mean the target is secure. It means the scanner didn’t detect vulnerabilities with its current checks.

Some tools don’t generate structured findings. They return tool-specific output instead: discovered hosts, raw console output, or takeover reports. See Tools for details on what each one returns.

Common issues

Scan stuck in Waiting

This usually means workers are busy or the required VPN/agent is starting. If it persists, stop and rerun during off-peak hours.

Timeout

Large scopes can hit duration limits. Reduce target scope or split into smaller scans, then rerun.

Connection or Authentication Error

Confirm DNS resolution, ports, firewall rules, and supplied credentials or verification tokens.

VPN Error

Ensure the VPN agent is online and the tunnel profile is valid. Restart the agent if needed.

Stopped or Aborted

If you stopped it manually, rerun when ready. For Aborted, contact support with the scan ID.

Related topics

• Scan types
• Scheduled scans
• Authenticated scanning