---
id: CVE-2019-5645
title: Rapid7 Metasploit HTTP Handler Denial of Service
summary: >-
  By sending a specially crafted HTTP GET request to a listening Rapid7
  Metasploit HTTP handler, an attacker can register an arbitrary regular
  expression. When evaluated, this malicious handler can either prevent new HTTP
  handler sessions …
severity: high
cvss: 7.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'
cvssSource: cna
cwe:
  - CWE-400
vendor: Rapid7
product: Metasploit Framework
affected:
  - metasploit_framework <= 5.0.27
exploitAvailable: true
published: '2020-09-01'
updated: '2026-10-23'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-23T00:10:04.483Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-5645'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/commit/5621d200ccf62e4a8f0dad80c1c74f4e0e52d86b
  - url: 'https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/pull/11966'
  - url: 'https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/pull/12433'
tags:
  - cve.org
  - exploit-available
epss: 0.49181
epssPercentile: 0.98878
exploits:
  metasploit:
    - auxiliary/dos/http/metasploit_httphandler_dos
  checkedAt: '2026-10-27T16:38:48.422Z'
ingestedAt: '2026-10-23T01:11:52.507Z'
---

## Overview

By sending a specially crafted HTTP GET request to a listening Rapid7 Metasploit HTTP handler, an attacker can register an arbitrary regular expression. When evaluated, this malicious handler can either prevent new HTTP handler sessions from being established, or cause a resource exhaustion on the Metasploit server.

## Affected

- `metasploit_framework <= 5.0.27`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.