Authentication Bypass in Metasploit JSON-RPC Service When DB Health Check Fails (CVE-2026-16895) | HOL Guard CVE

Unknown severity · Source severity not reportedCVE-2026-16895

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

Answer in brief

CVE-2026-16895 records a Unknown severity vulnerability in Authentication Bypass in Metasploit JSON-RPC Service When DB Health Check Fails. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. The current feed maps Rapid7/Metasploit-framework (generic). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.

Analysis pending evidence review

HOL Guard separates source facts from reviewed analysis. See the methodology.

Published Aug 27, 2026Updated Aug 27, 2026Source checked Aug 27, 2026First seen by HOL Aug 27, 2026Material review Aug 27, 2026

Upstream Advisory

Key facts

Risk: Unknown severitySource severity not reported
Exploitation: Not marked as known exploited
Affected software: 1 mapped package or product
Fix availability: Available

Why this deserves its current priority

A CVSS score is not reported in the current record. The current sources do not mark it as known exploited. Treat this as a source-backed prioritization signal, not a statement about your environment.

Analysis status

Analysis pending evidence review

Factual feed record only; HOL analysis is not approved for indexing. Read the methodology.

Affected scope and exposure questions

The current feed maps Rapid7/Metasploit-framework (generic). Check affected ranges and fixed versions before updating.

Mapped affected packages and fixed versions
Package	Affected range	Fixed version
Rapid7/Metasploit-frameworkgeneric	>=0 <6.5.2	6.5.2

Recommended response

Check inventory. Check lockfiles and deployed manifests for Rapid7/Metasploit-framework.
Review the reported fix. Update Rapid7/Metasploit-framework to 6.5.2 if you use the affected versions. Test the change in a non-production environment first.

Evidence timeline and material changes

Published upstream
Aug 27, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:record
Source modified
Aug 27, 2026
Evidence: source:cvelist:source_dates:source-dates:record
First seen by HOL
Aug 27, 2026

Sources and claim methodology

Upstream source 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.

Quoted source text, attributed separately from HOL analysis.