Description
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.
Published: 2026-08-27
Score: 5.1 Medium
EPSS: < 1% Very Low
KEV: No
Impact: n/a
Action: n/a
AI Analysis

Analysis and contextual insights are available on OpenCVE Cloud.

Remediation

No vendor fix or workaround currently provided.

Additional remediation guidance may be available on OpenCVE Cloud.

Tracking

Sign in to view the affected projects.

Advisories

No advisories yet.

History

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description 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.
Title Authentication Bypass in Metasploit JSON-RPC Service When DB Health Check Fails
Weaknesses CWE-305
References
Metrics cvssV4_0

{'score': 5.1, 'vector': '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'}


Subscriptions

No data.

cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: rapid7

Published:

Updated: 2026-08-27T03:14:21.055Z

Reserved: 2026-07-24T05:29:02.405Z

Link: CVE-2026-16895

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-08-27T04:16:41.530

Modified: 2026-08-27T04:16:41.530

Link: CVE-2026-16895

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-08-27T05:30:07Z

Weaknesses
  • CWE-305

    Authentication Bypass by Primary Weakness