Last updated at Fri, 12 Jan 2024 20:07:50 GMT

Due to changes in regulatory requirements that are applicable to Metasploit (Pro and Community) and similar products, as of Sunday, April 19, 2015, individuals outside of the US and Canada who would like to use Metasploit Pro or the Metasploit Community Edition will need to request a license and provide additional information regarding themselves or their organization designation. In accordance with the new requirements, the request will be reviewed by Rapid7 and, unless the user is a non-US or non-Canadian government agency (or is otherwise ineligible to receive the products without approval from the US Department of Commerce), the request will be fulfilled. This affects license requests made through Rapid7.com as well as any third party sites that currently offer Metasploit Pro or Community products for download.

This does not in any way affect or apply to Metasploit Framework. As an open source project, Metasploit Framework will remain available for download and access outside of the US and Canada without additional process.

Why is this happening?

Rapid7's Metasploit products use encryption and, like other products that use such technologies, are subject to US export requirements.  In addition, Metasploit and other intrusion software products are encountering increasing US and international regulatory review and restrictions.  In compliance with these regulations, we need to change the process by which free and trial versions of Metasploit Pro and Community editions are obtained.

What does this mean?

Due to increasing US and international regulatory restrictions, certain prospective users are ineligible to receive Metasploit Pro and Community editions without approval from the US Department of Commerce.  Users will need to provide reliable and accurate information to Rapid7 in order to request a license. As a general matter, non-governmental users will be eligible to receive a license key.

Please note that while most users will continue to be able to receive a license key for the free Metasploit Community and Pro editions, there will be a longer licensing process than there was historically due to the requirement that we review the information to make an assessment of whether the non-US/non-Canadian user is eligible to receive the products. We will work to process license key requests that have provided complete and accurate information expeditiously, but please anticipate that it may take up to 48 hours to complete. If you are in the United States or Canada, there will be no change for you.

I already have a Metasploit Community license or a Metasploit Pro evaluation. Will my license be revoked?

No, as a general matter this issue should not affect existing licenses retroactively. Once your license expires however, you will need to go through this new process. (Metasploit Pro trials will last for 14 days until they expire, and Metasploit Community licenses last a year.)  We will follow the appropriate US and foreign government regulations and seek authorization to continue serving our customers who already have licenses, but cannot guarantee the success of these applications to continue usage in the future.  We will stay in touch with any impacted customers and keep them apprised of their license status as they renew.

If you are outside the US and Canada, and are currently evaluating a Metasploit Pro license, we encourage you to reach out to your Account Executive for more information on this issue.

Please let us know if you have any questions, and we appreciate your understanding as we comply with US export laws.  Thank you.