Rapid7 Metasploit Pro is vulnerable to a local privilege escalation attack that allows a user to gain SYSTEM level control of a Windows host. When started the metasploitPostgreSQL service would start the postgres.exe child process which would in turn load an OpenSSL configuration file from a static location. This static location would be writable by a pre-existing "vagrant" user, if they already existed on the system. Metasploit does not create local accounts, an Administrator would need to create it. By planting a crafted openssl.cnf file an attacker can trick the high-privilege service into executing arbitrary commands. This effectively permits the unprivileged vagrant user to bypass security controls and achieve a full host compromise under the agent's SYSTEM level access.

Attack Vector Local

Attack Complexity Low

Privileges Required None

Attack Requirements None

User Interaction None

Vulnerable System Confidentiality Impact High

Vulnerable System Integrity Impact High

Vulnerable System Availability Impact Low

Subsequent System Confidentiality Impact High

Subsequent System Integrity Impact High

Subsequent System Availability Impact High

No CVSS v3.1

No CVSS v3.0

No CVSS v2

This CVE is not in the KEV list.

The EPSS score is 0.00006.

Exploitation none

Automatable no

Technical Impact total

Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).

Vendor Product Default status Versions
Rapid7 Metasploit Pro unaffected
Version Status Constraints
5.0.0 affected —

No data.

No data.

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Advisories

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Fixes

Solution

No solution given by the vendor.

Workaround

No workaround given by the vendor.

References
Link Providers
https://docs.rapid7.com/insight/release-notes-5.0.0-2026051301/#:~:text=Pro%3A%20We%20fixed,vulnerability%20to%20Rapid7. cve-icon cve-icon
History

Tue, 19 May 2026 23:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Rapid7 Metasploit Pro is vulnerable to a local privilege escalation attack that allows users to gain SYSTEM level control of a Windows host. Upon startup the metasploitPostgreSQL service the subsequent postgres.exe service attempts to load an OpenSSL configuration file from a non-existent directory that is writable by standard users. By planting a crafted openssl.cnf file an attacker can trick the high-privilege service into executing arbitrary commands. This effectively permits an unprivileged user to bypass security controls and achieve a full host compromise under the agent's SYSTEM level access. Rapid7 Metasploit Pro is vulnerable to a local privilege escalation attack that allows a user to gain SYSTEM level control of a Windows host. When started the metasploitPostgreSQL service would start the postgres.exe child process which would in turn load an OpenSSL configuration file from a static location. This static location would be writable by a pre-existing "vagrant" user, if they already existed on the system. Metasploit does not create local accounts, an Administrator would need to create it. By planting a crafted openssl.cnf file an attacker can trick the high-privilege service into executing arbitrary commands. This effectively permits the unprivileged vagrant user to bypass security controls and achieve a full host compromise under the agent's SYSTEM level access.

Mon, 18 May 2026 02:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
References

Mon, 18 May 2026 02:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'total'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Mon, 18 May 2026 01:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
References

Fri, 15 May 2026 11:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Rapid7
Rapid7 metasploit
Vendors & Products Rapid7
Rapid7 metasploit

Fri, 15 May 2026 03:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description Rapid7 Metasploit Pro is vulnerable to a local privilege escalation attack that allows users to gain SYSTEM level control of a Windows host. Upon startup the metasploitPostgreSQL service the subsequent postgres.exe service attempts to load an OpenSSL configuration file from a non-existent directory that is writable by standard users. By planting a crafted openssl.cnf file an attacker can trick the high-privilege service into executing arbitrary commands. This effectively permits an unprivileged user to bypass security controls and achieve a full host compromise under the agent's SYSTEM level access.
Title Metasploit Pro on Windows: Local Privilege Escalation via OpenSSL Configuration File Loading
Weaknesses CWE-284
CWE-427
CWE-829
References
Metrics cvssV4_0

{'score': 8.5, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:L/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:P'}

Projects

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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: rapid7

Published:

Updated: 2026-05-19T22:43:41.249Z

Reserved: 2026-04-28T23:54:36.962Z

Link: CVE-2026-7373

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2026-05-15T13:24:29.794Z

cve-icon NVD

Status : Awaiting Analysis

Published: 2026-05-15T03:16:23.270

Modified: 2026-05-19T23:16:58.587

Link: CVE-2026-7373

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-05-20T01:00:14Z

Weaknesses