{"id":"CVE-2026-16895","state":"PUBLISHED","title":"Authentication Bypass in Metasploit JSON-RPC Service When DB Health Check Fails","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.","publishedAt":"2026-08-27T03:14:21.055Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-27T13:09:40.173Z","severity":{"score":5.1,"label":"Medium","version":"4.0","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","source":"rapid7"},"assigner":"rapid7","products":["Rapid7 Metasploit-framework"],"affected":[{"vendor":"Rapid7","product":"Metasploit-framework","packageName":"JSON-RPC","defaultStatus":"unaffected","versions":[{"version":"0","status":"affected","lessThan":"6.5.2","versionType":"custom"}],"repo":"https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/blob/cd8cd0a52b519072bde513304c2a351a6f499b30/lib/msf/core/web_services/json_rpc_app.rb"}],"references":["https://www.rapid7.com/blog/post/pt-metasploit-wrap-up-lot-of-summer-shells-and-fit-http-profiles/","https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/pull/21768"],"weaknesses":["CWE-305"],"ingestedAt":"2026-10-29T20:11:00.674Z","source":{"repository":"CVEProject/cvelistV5","path":"cves/2026/16xxx/CVE-2026-16895.json","commit":"556c9d3a8cd17e218bb8e452ba7cd619a384ff47"},"raw":{"dataType":"CVE_RECORD","dataVersion":"5.2","cveMetadata":{"cveId":"CVE-2026-16895","state":"PUBLISHED","datePublished":"2026-08-27T03:14:21.055Z","dateUpdated":"2026-08-27T13:09:40.173Z","assignerShortName":"rapid7","assignerOrgId":"9974b330-7714-4307-a722-5648477acda7","dateReserved":"2026-07-24T05:29:02.405Z"},"containers":{"cna":{"title":"Authentication Bypass in Metasploit JSON-RPC Service When DB Health Check Fails","descriptions":[{"lang":"en","value":"A logic vulnerability (fail-open condition) has been identified within the Metasploit Framework's JSON-RPC web service interface. 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