Description
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.
Published: 2026-05-15
Score: 8.5 High
EPSS: < 1% Very Low
KEV: No
Impact: n/a
Action: n/a
AI Analysis

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Remediation

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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


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'}


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Rapid7 Metasploit
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: 2026-06-17T11:02:18.370

Link: CVE-2026-7373

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

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

Weaknesses