When manually importing a vulnerability scanner export (CSV) into Automox Remediations / Vulnerability Sync, the import can fail or show a status of Error. These failures are almost always caused by the structure or formatting of the CSV file, not the vulnerability data itself. This article covers the most common causes and how to resolve them.
Finding the Specific Error
When a manual import fails, the task shows a status of Error in Remediations, with an information icon next to it. Hover over the information (i) icon to see the specific error message. That message determines which fix applies, so always check it before troubleshooting.
"An unexpected error occurred" (Generic Error)
If the tooltip shows only "An unexpected error occurred. Please try again. If the issue persists, contact support," the importer hit a problem it couldn't attribute to a specific line. This is still almost always a file-structure issue. Re-check the file against the requirements in "What a Valid Import File Looks Like" below, then re-import. If it continues to fail, contact Automox Support and include the CSV (or a representative sample) so we can review the exact cause.
Column Count Mismatch (Embedded Line Breaks)
A common import error looks like this:
Error: Number of columns (8) on line 718 does not match header count (12)
This means the importer expected the number of columns defined in the header, but a later row appears to have fewer. The usual cause is a line break inside a field, most often in a long text field like Remediation or Description. When the importer hits a newline inside a field, it treats it as the start of a new row, which throws off the column count. The line number in the error is just the first affected row; there may be others.
The quickest fixes, in order of ease:
- Remove the optional column causing it. Automox only requires Hostname and CVE ID to ingest and map vulnerabilities. Severity is optional, and Remediation/Description text is not used at all. Since the embedded line breaks usually live in the Remediation column, deleting that column before upload often resolves the error outright.
- Flatten line breaks in a spreadsheet tool. Open the file in Excel or Google Sheets and replace in-cell line breaks with spaces so each vulnerability sits on a single physical line.
- Re-export from your scanner using an export option that flattens or omits multiline text fields, if one is available.
Hidden Characters from Your Editor
Another common cause is hidden characters introduced when the CSV is opened and re-saved in certain text editors. Notepad++ in particular can insert characters that the importer cannot parse. If your import is erroring, re-export the report and import it without opening it in Notepad++, or use a spreadsheet application that exports clean CSV.
What a Valid Import File Looks Like
As a general rule, the importer expects:
- One vulnerability per line, with no embedded newlines in any field
- A consistent column count across every row, matching the header
- The required fields present: at minimum Hostname and CVE ID
- A properly formatted CSV up to 1 million rows
If the Import Still Fails
If the file meets the above and still errors, contact Automox Support and include the CSV (or a representative sample) so we can review the specific parsing error.