Medium 5.1Published Aug 27, 2026

CVE-2026-16895Authentication Bypass in Metasploit JSON-RPC Service When DB Health Check Fails

Updated under an hour ago (2026-10-19 06:25 UTC)

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It affects Rapid7 Metasploit-framework. Add what you run to find out whether that includes you.

No exploitation reported and no EPSS estimate yet.

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Every CVE for Rapid7 Metasploit-framework

Exploited in the last 30 days

A logic vulnerability (fail-open condition) has been identified within the Metasploit Framework's JSON-RPC web service interface. When an exception occurs during the database health check (db.check) and the environment variable MSF_WS_JSON_RPC_API_TOKEN is not explicitly set, the application resets the internal state flag msf.auth_initialized to false. The ApiToken Warden authentication strategy misinterprets this false value as an indicator that authentication is not initialized or required, thereby granting unauthenticated local access to the JSON-RPC request dispatcher.

CVSS: 5.1 MEDIUM (v4.0, CNA)CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:L/SI:L/SA:N
Weakness (CWE): CWE-305
Known exploited: Not in CISA's KEV catalog
EPSS (exploitation in the next 30 days): Not loaded for this CVE
Assigned by: rapid7
NVD analysis: Awaiting Analysis
Record last updated: Aug 27, 2026
First seen by InfoSec Signals: Oct 9, 2026

Affected products

Affected products

Rapid7 Metasploit-framework rapid7:metasploit_framework (from the name)	before 6.5.2	CNA record

References

https://www.rapid7.com/blog/post/pt-metasploit-wrap-up-lot-of-summer-shells-and-fit-http-profiles/vendor-advisory
https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/pull/21768patch

The CVE record on cve.org NVD's entry

The CVE record is authoritative. Products marked “from the name” were identified from the CNA's free-text names, not a CPE, and are matched less certainly. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.