Penetration Test Findings Remediation Review

Tracks penetration test findings to assigned owners through remediation, retest verification, and documented risk acceptance where applicable.

Inspection Details and Scope

• Assessment name, date, and report version recorded
  Capture the penetration test report title, assessment date, and report/version identifier used for this remediation review.
• In-scope systems and applications identified
  Select the systems, applications, or environments covered by the findings review.
• Review owner and participants documented
  Record the reviewer, remediation owner(s), and any security or compliance participants present for the review.

Finding Triage and Ownership

• Each finding has a named remediation owner
  Verify every open or in-progress finding is assigned to a responsible owner or team.
• Severity and business impact reviewed against current context
  Confirm the original severity still reflects current exposure, compensating controls, and business impact.
• Remediation priority and target due date documented
  Capture the agreed priority, target remediation date, and any dependencies or blockers affecting closure.
• Findings with duplicate root cause are grouped for coordinated remediation
  Check whether related findings are consolidated where appropriate to avoid duplicate fixes and inconsistent closure.

Remediation Progress and Evidence

• Remediation actions implemented for each assigned finding
  Verify fixes, configuration changes, code updates, compensating controls, or other corrective actions have been implemented.
• Evidence of remediation attached
  Attach supporting evidence such as change records, screenshots, configuration exports, pull request references, or ticket links.
• Change control or release reference recorded
  Document the change request, release, patch cycle, or deployment reference associated with the remediation.
• Residual exposure after remediation assessed
  Select the current residual risk level after remediation actions.

Retest Verification and Closure

• Retest performed for remediated findings
  Confirm a retest or validation activity was completed for findings marked as remediated.
• Retest result confirms finding is closed
  Select the retest outcome for the finding or finding set.
• Retest evidence attached
  Attach screenshots, logs, scanner output, or tester notes showing the retest result.
• Closure approved by security owner
  Verify a security owner or designated approver has accepted closure based on retest evidence.

Risk Acceptance and Exceptions

• Open findings have documented risk acceptance where closure is not possible
  Confirm any unresolved finding has formal risk acceptance, exception approval, or compensating control documentation.
• Risk acceptance includes approver, expiration date, and compensating controls
  Record the approving authority, expiration or review date, and the compensating controls in place.
• Exception tracking ticket or register updated
  Document the ticket number, register entry, or governance record used to track the accepted risk.
• Escalation required for overdue or high-risk items
  Identify whether any item requires escalation to leadership, the risk committee, or the AHJ-equivalent governance body.