Security Vulnerability Reporting with Google Dorks and PDF Conversion - n8n Workflow

• Security analysts and penetration testers needing automated, repeatable vulnerability scans.


• DevOps teams looking to integrate quick security checks into their pipeline.


• Users searching for practical n8n templates to handle complex data extraction and reporting.


• Businesses requiring standardized, automatically generated security compliance reports.

This powerful n8n workflow serves as an automated reporting tool for security monitoring. It addresses the complexity of executing numerous targeted Google Dorks—advanced search queries designed to find misconfigurations or exposed data—and transforming those raw search results into actionable intelligence. The entire n8n workflow is initiated via a manual form input, making it highly flexible. By leveraging the SerpAPI n8n node, the automation bypasses typical search engine limitations, ensuring high-volume data extraction. A crucial element of this n8n automation is the handling of rate limiting and complex data manipulation using custom code. Finally, the use of the PDF4me n8n node ensures that the output is a professional, standardized PDF document, ready for archival or immediate alerting via Gmail.

The process begins with the Form Input n8n trigger, where the user provides parameters for the security scan.

1. Dorks Generation: A custom Code n8n node, titled 'Generate Categorized Dorks', processes the initial input to create a robust list of security-focused Google Dorks.


2. Batching and Control: The 'Split Into Batches' n8n node prepares the dorks for iterative processing. A critical 'Rate Limit Delay' n8n node (a Wait n8n node) is included immediately prior to the search action to respect API usage policies.


3. Data Extraction: The Google search (SerpAPI) n8n node executes each dork, gathering search results.


4. Data Transformation: Multiple Code n8n nodes ('Flatten Serper Results', 'Clean Output') meticulously refine the often-complex JSON structure received from the SerpAPI n8n node, preparing it for reporting.


5. Report Formatting: The 'Generate Report' Code n8n node compiles the cleaned data into a comprehensive report, likely formatted in Markdown.


6. Conditional Alerting: The 'Check If Alerting Needed' If n8n node evaluates the generated report content. If critical vulnerabilities are found (the True branch), the report moves to Convert Markdown To PDF1 and is immediately sent via the Send a message (Gmail) n8n node. If standard processing is sufficient (the False branch), it uses the Convert Markdown To PDF n8n node for final documentation.

To utilize this security reporting n8n workflow, follow these steps:

1. Import: Copy the provided n8n workflow JSON and import it into your n8n instance using the 'New' menu -> 'Import from JSON'.


2. Credentials Setup: You will need to configure credentials for the following services:

1. Form Input Configuration: Access the 'Form Input' n8n trigger and note the Webhook URL. This URL is used to initiate the scan, typically accepting parameters like the target domain or specific vulnerability types.


2. Code Node Review: Review the logic within the 'Generate Categorized Dorks', 'Flatten Serper Results', 'Clean Output', and 'Generate Report' n8n node instances to ensure the custom logic aligns with your specific security testing requirements. These n8n templates rely heavily on custom code for report structuring.

Form Input (n8n trigger): The starting point of this n8n workflow. It serves as a webhook endpoint to dynamically pass parameters (like target scope) to the automation.
Generate Categorized Dorks (Code n8n node): Responsible for scripting the precise Google Dorks based on the input parameters, ensuring highly targeted security extraction.
Split Into Batches (n8n node): Manages the generated list of dorks, breaking them down into manageable chunks to prevent payload issues.
Rate Limit Delay (Wait n8n node): A crucial flow control n8n node that introduces a delay between batches to respect SerpAPI usage limits.
Google search (SerpAPI n8n node): The core extraction tool. It executes the Google Dorks, configured to use a standard Google search operation.
Flatten Serper Results & Clean Output (Code n8n nodes): These sequential Code n8n nodes perform custom data manipulation, transforming the raw search JSON into structured vulnerability data.
Generate Report (Code n8n node): Takes the final cleaned data and uses scripting to compile a human-readable security report, often leveraging Markdown syntax.
Check If Alerting Needed (If n8n node): Determines the follow-up action. This n8n node checks a condition (likely based on the severity or number of findings) to route the process to either immediate alerting or standard filing.
Convert Markdown To PDF/Convert Markdown To PDF1 (PDF4me n8n node): Uses the PDF4me service to convert the Markdown-formatted security report into a universally accessible PDF file, configured specifically for Markdown to PDF conversion.
Send a message (Gmail n8n node): Used in the alerting path to immediately email the generated PDF report to designated stakeholders.