---
id: CVE-2026-121139
title: >-
  Rapid7 Metasploit Framework Web Service unauthenticated bootstrap window
  allows creation of an administrator account without authentication
summary: "The Rapid7 Metasploit\_msf-ws\_suffers from a missing authentication vulnerability whereby the REST API grants an unauthenticated \"bootstrap\" exemption so that the very first administrator can be created when the\_users\_table is empty. Whil…"
severity: high
cvss: 7.3
cvssVector: 'CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N'
cvssSource: cna
cwe:
  - CWE-306
vendor: Rapid7
product: Metasploit Framework
affected:
  - metasploit_framework < 6.5.9
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: total
  timestamp: '2026-11-05T17:10:54.894633Z'
published: '2026-11-05'
updated: '2026-11-05'
sourceUpdated: '2026-11-05T17:11:41.112Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-121139'
references:
  - url: 'https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/pull/22039'
tags:
  - cve.org
ingestedAt: '2026-11-05T22:38:31.425Z'
---

## Overview

The Rapid7 Metasploit msf-ws suffers from a missing authentication vulnerability whereby the REST API grants an unauthenticated "bootstrap" exemption so that the very first administrator can be created when the users table is empty. While the table is empty, POST /api/v1/users is exempt from authentication by design: the route handler calls warden.authenticate!(scope: :admin_api), which resolves to AdminApiToken. The inherited ApiToken#authenticate! short-circuits and returns success!() whenever msf.auth_initialized is false, without ever evaluating AdminApiToken's administrator check. In that state the endpoint creates a user — including an administrator — for an entirely unauthenticated caller.


This issue has been fixed in version 6.5.9.

## Affected

- `metasploit_framework < 6.5.9`

## Remediation

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