Enterprise security teams review hundreds of vendor security assessments every year. They have seen every type of vulnerability, and they know which ones represent real risk to their organization. Some findings are acceptable. Others are deal-breakers that will stop a contract in its tracks regardless of how good your product is.
These are the 10 findings we see most frequently in our pentest engagements that consistently kill or delay enterprise deals. If any of these exist in your application, fixing them before your next enterprise security review should be your top priority.
1. Broken object level authorization (BOLA)
This is the number one deal-killer. If any authenticated user can access another user's data by changing an ID in the URL or API request, the enterprise buyer's data is at risk from every other customer on your platform. No enterprise security team will approve a vendor with this finding unresolved. The fix requires implementing authorization checks on every endpoint that accesses data by identifier, verifying that the requesting user has permission to access the specific object.
2. Cross-tenant data leakage
In a multi-tenant SaaS application, any pathway that allows one tenant to see another tenant's data is a critical finding. This includes search results that return cross-tenant data, export functions that include other tenants' records, and API responses that expose tenant identifiers or data from other accounts. Enterprise buyers are putting their data on a shared platform. If you cannot prove it is isolated, the deal is dead.
3. Missing or broken authentication on API endpoints
If any API endpoint that handles sensitive data can be accessed without authentication, the entire application's security model is questionable. This includes endpoints that the frontend does not call but that exist in production, debug endpoints left enabled, and admin functions accessible without proper authentication verification.
4. SQL injection
SQL injection in 2026 is not just a vulnerability. It is a signal that the development team is not following basic secure coding practices. Modern frameworks make SQL injection difficult to introduce accidentally, so its presence suggests either very old code that has not been reviewed or a development culture that does not prioritize security. Either interpretation is a red flag for enterprise buyers.
5. Stored cross-site scripting (XSS)
Stored XSS that persists in the application and executes for other users is a deal-concern because it can be used for session hijacking, credential theft, and data exfiltration. If a malicious user on your platform can inject script that executes in an enterprise user's browser, the enterprise's internal systems could be at risk through your application.
6. Unencrypted sensitive data at rest
If customer data, passwords, API keys, or other sensitive information is stored in plaintext in the database, this is an immediate disqualifier. Enterprise buyers expect AES-256 encryption at rest for all sensitive data, and they will ask for evidence during the security review.
7. Broken authentication and session management
Weak session tokens, missing session expiration, sessions that survive password changes, and JWT tokens signed with weak secrets all indicate that an attacker could hijack user sessions or maintain persistent access after credentials are changed. Enterprise security teams know that their employees will use your platform, and compromised sessions put their people at risk.
8. Missing multi-factor authentication
If your application does not offer MFA, or if MFA can be bypassed, enterprise buyers will flag this immediately. Most enterprise security policies require MFA on all third-party SaaS applications that access sensitive data. If you cannot support this requirement, you cannot close the deal.
9. Excessive data exposure in API responses
API responses that return entire database objects when the client only needs a few fields create unnecessary data exposure risk. If a user profile API returns password hashes, internal IDs, billing details, and administrative flags alongside the display name the frontend actually uses, enterprise security teams will note this as an indicator of immature API design.
10. No rate limiting on authentication endpoints
Login endpoints without rate limiting allow credential stuffing and brute force attacks at scale. If an attacker can make thousands of login attempts per minute against your application, every enterprise user's credentials are at risk. This is a straightforward finding to fix, but its presence in a pentest report signals that basic security controls were not considered during development.
The pattern that enterprise buyers see
Individual findings can be remediated. What enterprise security teams are really evaluating is the pattern. One critical finding that has been remediated is acceptable. Multiple critical findings, especially in fundamental areas like authentication and authorization, suggest systemic security problems that will take time and resources to fix.
The best position to be in is a pentest report that shows some findings (a report with zero findings raises questions about test quality) with all critical and high findings remediated and retested. This demonstrates that your application was thoroughly tested, real issues were found, and your team addressed them promptly. That is the narrative that closes deals.
The proactive approach: The companies that close enterprise deals fastest are the ones that pentest before the enterprise security review, not because of it. They find and fix these deal-killing vulnerabilities on their own timeline, not under the pressure of an active sales cycle. A $10,000 pentest three months before your first enterprise prospect is an investment. The same pentest scrambled during a deal cycle is a scramble that may not finish in time.
Fix the deal-killers before they cost you revenue
At Lorikeet Security, we test for all of these findings and more in every web application pentest. We prioritize our reporting so that deal-killing issues are surfaced first, with clear remediation guidance so your team can fix them quickly.
Our web application pentests start at $7,500 and include retesting of critical and high findings, so you receive a clean report showing that deal-killing vulnerabilities have been resolved. That is the report you want to have ready when your enterprise prospect's security team comes knocking.
Find and Fix Deal-Killing Vulnerabilities
Do not let preventable security findings cost you your next enterprise deal. Get tested now and have a clean report ready for security review.
