[BUG] ... resume-xxxxxx.cfg file is empty with large scans

[ik8sqi]

Is there an existing issue for this?

• I have searched the existing issues.

Current Behavior

When I run a large scan for a long time (currently 500 hosts for the past 70 hours), hitting CTRL+C to save the interim scan does not work. The .cfg file that gets created only contains an empty "resumeFrom". I've tried interrupting the scan sooner in the previous days, but the .cfg is always the same with an empty resumeFrom.

I tested interrupting with CTRL+C when scanning a single host and in that case the .cfg file does contain the progress listed under the resumeFrom.

The computer is a Kali Parallels vm running on a MacOS intel MacMini:

pentester@kali:~$ hostnamectl
Virtualization: parallels
Operating System: Kali GNU/Linux Rolling
Kernel: Linux 6.10.11-amd64
Architecture: x86-64
Firmware Version: 20.2.2 (55879)
Firmware Date: Sat 2025-02-22

This is the nuclei command line (running with sudo) that I use:
sudo nuclei -list Domains-2.txt -dut -no-mhe --stats -stats-interval 60 -dashboard -uc -headless -H "User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Ubuntu; Linux x86_64; rv:125.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/125.0" -H "Referer: 127.0.0.1" -H "X-Forwarded-For: 127.0.0.1" -scan-strategy host-spray -c 5 -rate-limit 10

The log output will show the results of what is logged when doing the CTRL+C. I also show the "cat" of the .cfg file that is created, and a list of all my previous attempts to do interrupt - all the .cfg files created are 21 bytes in size, all with an empty resumeFrom.

Expected Behavior

The resume-nnnn.cfg file should contain the progress of the scan so it can be resumed.

Steps To Reproduce

Run nuclei with a target list of 500 hostnames:
sudo nuclei -list Domains-2.txt -dut -no-mhe --stats -stats-interval 60 -dashboard -uc -headless -scan-strategy host-spray -c 5 -rate-limit 10

Hit CTRL+C after several hours (12/24). The resume-nnnn.cfg file will contain an empty "resumeFrom".

Relevant log output

pentester@kali:/media/psf/BugBounty$ sudo nuclei -list Domains-2.txt -dut -no-mhe --stats -stats-interval 60 -dashboard -uc -headless -H "User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Ubuntu; Linux x86_64; rv:125.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/125.0" -H "Referer: 127.0.0.1" -H "X-Forwarded-For: 127.0.0.1" -scan-strategy host-spray -c 5 -rate-limit 10
[sudo] password for pentester: 

                     __     _
   ____  __  _______/ /__  (_)
  / __ \/ / / / ___/ / _ \/ /
 / / / / /_/ / /__/ /  __/ /
/_/ /_/\__,_/\___/_/\___/_/   v3.4.2

                projectdiscovery.io

[INF] Running uncover queries from template against: publicwww,censys,zoomeye,github,shodan,fofa,google,hunter
[ERR] Could not get targets using google engine from uncover: [uncover:RUNTIME] agents [google] requires keys but no keys were found
[WRN] Skipping 196 unsigned template[s]
[INF] Current nuclei version: v3.4.2 (latest)
[INF] Current nuclei-templates version: v10.1.6 (latest)
[INF] To view results on cloud dashboard, visit https://cloud.projectdiscovery.io/scans upon scan completion.
[INF] New templates added in latest release: 78
[INF] Templates loaded for current scan: 7672
[INF] Executing 7672 signed templates from projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates
[INF] Targets loaded for current scan: 500
[INF] Running httpx on input host
[INF] Found 408 URL from httpx
[INF] Templates clustered: 1565 (Reduced 731500 Requests)
[0:26:41] | Templates: 7672 | Hosts: 500 | RPS: 0 | Matched: 0 | Errors: 156 | Requests: 183/7293500 (0%)
................................
................................
[70:23:00] | Templates: 7672 | Hosts: 500 | RPS: 9 | Matched: 2287 | Errors: 953552 | Requests: 2420376/7293500 (33%)
^C[INF] CTRL+C pressed: Exiting
[INF] Attempting graceful shutdown...
[INF] Uploading scan results to cloud...
[INF] 2287 Scan results uploaded to cloud, you can view scan results at https://cloud.projectdiscovery.io/scans/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx?team_id=none
[70:23:05] | Templates: 7672 | Hosts: 500 | RPS: 9 | Matched: 2287 | Errors: 953574 | Requests: 2420432/7293500 (33%)
[INF] Creating resume file: /root/.cache/nuclei/resume-cvsbtam1qve944ikun0g.cfg

pentester@kali:/media/psf/BugBounty$ sudo cat /root/.cache/nuclei/resume-cvsbtam1qve944ikun0g.cfg
[sudo] password for pentester: 
{
        "resumeFrom": {}
}

pentester@kali:/media/psf/BugBounty$ sudo ls -l /root/.cache/nuclei/
total 20
-rw------- 1 root root 21 Apr  9 09:30 resume-cvr23t61qveer5dp8clg.cfg
-rw------- 1 root root 21 Apr  9 09:30 resume-cvr247e1qveeof4hg000.cfg
-rw------- 1 root root 21 Apr 10 16:51 resume-cvrspl61qved8auqhui0.cfg
-rw------- 1 root root 21 Apr 11 09:00 resume-cvs3fhm1qvedep8dmq50.cfg
-rw------- 1 root root 21 Apr 14 12:10 resume-cvsbtam1qve944ikun0g.cfg

Environment

- OS: Kali GNU/Linux Rolling
- Nuclei: 3.4.2
- Go: did not use go to install

Anything else?

No response

[dogancanbakir]

Thanks for opening the issue. Couldn't repro the issue -didn't wait for hours to execute:

$ go run . -list target.list

                     __     _
   ____  __  _______/ /__  (_)
  / __ \/ / / / ___/ / _ \/ /
 / / / / /_/ / /__/ /  __/ /
/_/ /_/\__,_/\___/_/\___/_/   v3.4.2

                projectdiscovery.io

[INF] Current nuclei version: v3.4.2 (latest)
[INF] Current nuclei-templates version: v10.1.7 (latest)
[WRN] Scan results upload to cloud is disabled.
[INF] New templates added in latest release: 64
[INF] Templates loaded for current scan: 7905
[INF] Executing 7697 signed templates from projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates
[WRN] Loading 208 unsigned templates for scan. Use with caution.
[INF] Targets loaded for current scan: 194614
[INF] Templates clustered: 1739 (Reduced 318583118 Requests)
[INF] Using Interactsh Server: oast.fun
[CNVD-2022-42853] [http] [critical] http://vulnerabletarget.com/zentao/user-login.html
...
^C[INF] CTRL+C pressed: Exiting
[INF] Attempting graceful shutdown...
[INF] Creating resume file: /Users/dogancanbakir/Library/Caches/nuclei/resume-cvugvpahc8a2rn0c4f30.cfg
exit status 1

$ go run . -list target.list -resume /Users/dogancanbakir/Library/Caches/nuclei/resume-cvugvpahc8a2rn0c4f30.cfg

                     __     _
   ____  __  _______/ /__  (_)
  / __ \/ / / / ___/ / _ \/ /
 / / / / /_/ / /__/ /  __/ /
/_/ /_/\__,_/\___/_/\___/_/   v3.4.2

                projectdiscovery.io

[INF] Resuming from save checkpoint
[INF] Current nuclei version: v3.4.2 (latest)
[INF] Current nuclei-templates version: v10.1.7 (latest)
[WRN] Scan results upload to cloud is disabled.
[INF] New templates added in latest release: 64
[INF] Templates loaded for current scan: 7905
[INF] Executing 7697 signed templates from projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates
[WRN] Loading 208 unsigned templates for scan. Use with caution.
[INF] Targets loaded for current scan: 194614
[INF] Templates clustered: 1739 (Reduced 318583118 Requests)
[INF] Using Interactsh Server: oast.fun
[CNVD-2022-42853] [http] [critical] http://app.vulnerabletarget.com/zentao/user-login.html
...
^C[INF] CTRL+C pressed: Exiting
[INF] Attempting graceful shutdown...
[INF] Creating resume file: /Users/dogancanbakir/Library/Caches/nuclei/resume-cvuh05qhc8a2tmdgpprg.cfg
exit status 1

Note: the resume file is not empty.

[dogancanbakir]

@dwisiswant0 Can you try to reproduce this issue? Thanks!

[ik8sqi]

If I only scan one single URL, as I mentioned in the post everything works as it should. With the list of 500 hosts that I'm using, if I stop it with CTRL+C after this line is logged:

[INF] Running httpx on input host

I get an empty .cfg file, but no errors.

If I wait a few more minutes for it to actually start scanning (I think...), then I can't get it to save the .cfg as the application crashes - see console output below:

$ pentester@kali:/media/psf/BugBounty$  sudo nuclei -list Domains-2.txt -dut -no-mhe --stats -stats-interval 60 -uc -headlless -scan-strategy host-spray -c 5 -rate-limit 10
                     __     _
   ____  __  _______/ /__  (_)
  / __ \/ / / / ___/ / _ \/ /
 / / / / /_/ / /__/ /  __/ /
/_/ /_/\__,_/\___/_/\___/_/   v3.4.2

                projectdiscovery.io

[INF] Your current nuclei-templates v10.1.6 are outdated. Latest is v10.1.7
[INF] Successfully updated nuclei-templates (v10.1.7) to /root/nuclei-templates. GoodLuck!

Nuclei Templates v10.1.7 Changelog
+-------+-------+----------+---------+
| TOTAL | ADDED | MODIFIED | REMOVED |
+-------+-------+----------+---------+
|   538 |    64 |      474 |       0 |
+-------+-------+----------+---------+
[INF] Running uncover queries from template against: shodan,hunter,zoomeye,shonda,github,fofa,google,publicwww,censys
[ERR] Could not get targets using fofa engine from uncover: [uncover:RUNTIME] agents [fofa] requires keys but no keys were found
[WRN] Skipping 200 unsigned template[s]
[INF] Current nuclei version: v3.4.2 (latest)
[INF] Current nuclei-templates version: v10.1.7 (latest)
[WRN] Scan results upload to cloud is disabled.
[INF] New templates added in latest release: 64
[INF] Templates loaded for current scan: 7715
[INF] Executing 7715 signed templates from projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates
[INF] Targets loaded for current scan: 500
[INF] Running httpx on input host
^C[INF] CTRL+C pressed: Exiting
[INF] Attempting graceful shutdown...
[INF] Creating resume file: /root/.cache/nuclei/resume-cvuijqm1qve9g0rbb7k0.cfg


$ pentester@kali:/media/psf/BugBounty$ sudo cat /root/.cache/nuclei/resume-cvuijqm1qve9g0rbb7k0.cfg
{
        "resumeFrom": {}
}


$ pentester@kali:/media/psf/BugBounty$ sudo nuclei -list Domains-2.txt -dut -no-mhe --stats -stats-interval 60 --uc -headless --scan-strategy host-spray -c 5 -rate-limit 10

                     __     _
   ____  __  _______/ /__  (_)
  / __ \/ / / / ___/ / _ \/ /
 / / / / /_/ / /__/ /  __/ /
/_/ /_/\__,_/\___/_/\___/_/   v3.4.2

                projectdiscovery.io

[INF] Running uncover queries from template against: publicwww,zoomeye,shodan,google,censys,shonda,github,fofa,hunter
[ERR] Could not get targets using fofa engine from uncover: [uncover:RUNTIME] agents [fofa] requires keys but no keys were found
[WRN] Skipping 200 unsigned template[s]
[INF] Current nuclei version: v3.4.2 (latest)
[INF] Current nuclei-templates version: v10.1.7 (latest)
[WRN] Scan results upload to cloud is disabled.
[INF] New templates added in latest release: 64
[INF] Templates loaded for current scan: 7715
[INF] Executing 7715 signed templates from projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates
[INF] Targets loaded for current scan: 500
[INF] Running httpx on input host
[INF] Found 424 URL from httpx
[INF] Templates clustered: 1566 (Reduced 732000 Requests)
^C[INF] CTRL+C pressed: Exiting
[INF] Attempting graceful shutdown...
[0:01:34] | Templates: 7715 | Hosts: 500 | RPS: 1 | Matched: 0 | Errors: 160 | Requests: 175/7338500 (0%)
[0:01:37] | Templates: 7715 | Hosts: 500 | RPS: 1 | Matched: 0 | Errors: 160 | Requests: 175/7338500 (0%)
[INF] Creating resume file: /root/.cache/nuclei/resume-cvuik5e1qvea73v3e2og.cfg
panic: runtime error: invalid memory address or nil pointer dereference
[signal SIGSEGV: segmentation violation code=0x1 addr=0x0 pc=0xd18042]

goroutine 18394 [running]:
github.com/projectdiscovery/fastdialer/fastdialer.(*Dialer).DialTLS(0x7fa7cec395b8?, {0x3f98b48?, 0xc012fe24d0?}, {0x31502db?, 0x60?}, {0xc00e770c80?, 0x7fa7879ef588?})
        github.com/projectdiscovery/fastdialer@v0.4.0/fastdialer/dialer.go:226 +0x22
github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/protocols/http/httpclientpool.wrappedGet.func1({0x3f98b48, 0xc012fe24d0}, {0x31502db, 0x3}, {0xc00e770c80, 0x1f})
        github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/protocols/http/httpclientpool/clientpool.go:274 +0xee
net/http.(*Transport).customDialTLS(0x11?, {0x3f98b48?, 0xc012fe24d0?}, {0x31502db?, 0x0?}, {0xc00e770c80?, 0xc011a67a58?})
        net/http/transport.go:1348 +0x4a
net/http.(*Transport).dialConn(0xc0050b9a40, {0x3f98b48, 0xc012fe24d0}, {{}, 0x0, {0xc015c43410, 0x5}, {0xc00e770c80, 0x1f}, 0x0})
        net/http/transport.go:1624 +0x3df
net/http.(*Transport).dialConnFor(0xc0050b9a40, 0xc01e34c6e0)
        net/http/transport.go:1485 +0xcd
created by net/http.(*Transport).queueForDial in goroutine 18284
        net/http/transport.go:1461 +0x1cd
pentester@kali:/media/psf/BugBounty$ sudo cat /root/.cache/nuclei/resume-cvuik5e1qvea73v3e2og.cfg
cat: /root/.cache/nuclei/resume-cvuik5e1qvea73v3e2og.cfg: No such file or directory
pentester@kali:/media/psf/BugBounty$ 
pentester@kali:/media/psf/BugBounty$                                                                                    
pentester@kali:/media/psf/BugBounty$ sudo nuclei -list Domains-2.txt -dut -no-mhe --stats -stats-interval 60 --uc -headless --scan-strategy host-spray -c 5 -rate-limit 10                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                      
                     __     _                                                                                                         
   ____  __  _______/ /__  (_)                                                                                                        
  / __ \/ / / / ___/ / _ \/ /                                                                                                         
 / / / / /_/ / /__/ /  __/ /                                                                                                          
/_/ /_/\__,_/\___/_/\___/_/   v3.4.2                                                                                                  

                projectdiscovery.io

[INF] Running uncover queries from template against: fofa,google,hunter,publicwww,shodan,zoomeye,shonda,github,censys
[ERR] Could not get targets using zoomeye engine from uncover: [uncover:RUNTIME] agents [zoomeye] requires keys but no keys were found
[WRN] Skipping 200 unsigned template[s]
[INF] Current nuclei version: v3.4.2 (latest)
[INF] Current nuclei-templates version: v10.1.7 (latest)
[WRN] Scan results upload to cloud is disabled.
[INF] New templates added in latest release: 64
[INF] Templates loaded for current scan: 7715
[INF] Executing 7715 signed templates from projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates
[INF] Targets loaded for current scan: 500
[INF] Running httpx on input host
[INF] Found 404 URL from httpx
[INF] Templates clustered: 1566 (Reduced 732000 Requests)
^C[INF] CTRL+C pressed: Exiting
[INF] Attempting graceful shutdown...
[0:00:04] | Templates: 7715 | Hosts: 500 | RPS: 12 | Matched: 0 | Errors: 34 | Requests: 50/7338500 (0%)
panic: runtime error: invalid memory address or nil pointer dereference
[signal SIGSEGV: segmentation violation code=0x1 addr=0x0 pc=0xd18042]

goroutine 17850 [running]:
github.com/projectdiscovery/fastdialer/fastdialer.(*Dialer).DialTLS(0x7f6769fbb108?, {0x3f98b48?, 0xc0132dd180?}, {0x31502db?, 0x60?}, {0xc01fa48440?, 0x7f6722a13a58?})
        github.com/projectdiscovery/fastdialer@v0.4.0/fastdialer/dialer.go:226 +0x22
github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/protocols/http/httpclientpool.wrappedGet.func1({0x3f98b48, 0xc0132dd180}, {0x31502db, 0x3}, {0xc01fa48440, 0x1e})
        github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei/v3/pkg/protocols/http/httpclientpool/clientpool.go:274 +0xee
net/http.(*Transport).customDialTLS(0x11?, {0x3f98b48?, 0xc0132dd180?}, {0x31502db?, 0x0?}, {0xc01fa48440?, 0xc02249ea58?})
        net/http/transport.go:1348 +0x4a
net/http.(*Transport).dialConn(0xc0120f6780, {0x3f98b48, 0xc0132dd180}, {{}, 0x0, {0xc0111edb60, 0x5}, {0xc01fa48440, 0x1e}, 0x0})
        net/http/transport.go:1624 +0x3df
net/http.(*Transport).dialConnFor(0xc0120f6780, 0xc011328c60)
        net/http/transport.go:1485 +0xcd
created by net/http.(*Transport).queueForDial in goroutine 17175
        net/http/transport.go:1461 +0x1cd
pentester@kali:/media/psf/BugBounty$ 
pentester@kali:/media/psf/BugBounty$ 
pentester@kali:/media/ps

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed in 7 days if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions!

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed in 7 days if no further activity occurs. Thank you for your contributions!