Common Scan Issues & Troubleshooting
Most scans complete successfully, but issues like timeouts, immediate failures, blocked network scans, or missing findings can occasionally occur. This article covers the most common scan problems, their likely causes, and how to resolve them — including how to handle false positives and where to get additional help.
Common Scan Issues & Troubleshooting
Most scans complete successfully, but occasionally you may encounter issues. This guide covers the most common problems and their solutions.
Scan Statuses
Pending means the scan is queued and waiting to start. Queued means it has been picked up by the scanner and is about to begin. Scanning means it is actively running. Generating Report means the scan is done and the report is being built. Completed means it finished successfully. Failed means an error occurred during scanning.
Common Issues
Scan Timed Out
If a scan runs for a long time then fails, the likely causes are a very large website with many pages, slow server response times, or active scanning on a complex site. Try running the scan again — transient issues are common. If the site is very large, scans may naturally take 30–60 minutes or more. Ensure your server isn't rate-limiting or blocking the scanner.
Scan Failed Immediately
If a scan moves to Failed within seconds, the domain URL may be incorrect or unreachable, DNS may not be resolving, the site may be behind a firewall blocking the scanner, or there may be an SSL certificate issue. Verify the domain URL is correct and includes https://, confirm the site is publicly accessible, whitelist seeshare's scanning IPs if you have a WAF or firewall, and ensure your SSL certificate is valid.
No Findings Returned
If a scan completes but shows zero findings, the site may genuinely be very secure, the scanner may not have been able to access most pages due to authentication requirements, or a CDN or WAF may be blocking scan traffic. Verify the scan actually accessed your site by checking scan logs. If your site is login-protected, set up authenticated scanning. Check whether your CDN or WAF is blocking scanning traffic.
WordPress Scanner Not Finding Plugins
If a WordPress scan completes but doesn't detect known plugins, you're likely scanning unauthenticated or a security plugin is blocking plugin enumeration. Add WordPress credentials for authenticated scanning and check whether a security plugin like Wordfence or Sucuri is blocking enumeration.
Network Scan (Nmap) Blocked
If Nmap shows no results or fails, your hosting provider may be blocking port scans, a firewall may be dropping scan packets, or your cloud provider (AWS, Azure, GCP) may require scan authorization. Check with your hosting provider about port scanning policies, seek pre-authorization from your cloud provider if required, and whitelist the scanner's IP range.
"Past Due" Billing Status
If scans won't run and your account shows Past Due, go to Settings > Billing and update your payment method. Scanning resumes automatically once payment is processed.
False Positives
If you believe a finding is a false positive, click into the finding detail page and change its status to False Positive. It will no longer appear in future reports or affect your security score. If you see recurring false positives, contact support to help improve detection accuracy.
Getting More Help
If your issue isn't covered here, use the AI Assistant for technical questions, contact support for platform issues, or check the FAQ for quick answers.