exploit completed, but no session was created metasploit

Diagnoses a Metasploit exploit run in an authorized lab or assessment that completes but opens no session. Use when msfconsole reports exploit completed with no session and the target is a system the tester owns or is contracted to test. Not for a failed exploit that errors out during launch, which never reaches the completion step.

Confirm the scope and the setup: the target is a lab machine or a system named in a written authorization, and the target service is up and reachable from the test machine.

Check the listener settings on the test machine: the local host address must be an address the target can route back to, and the local port must match the port the payload was told to connect to.

Confirm a handler is actually listening when the exploit runs, and that no firewall on the test machine or the lab network blocks the inbound connection.

Check the payload and target pairing: the selected target entry, architecture, and payload type must match the lab target, and a staged payload needs its stager to be deliverable in the service input limits.

Rerun with the session log kept, and check the target side in the lab: application logs or a lab snapshot can show whether the payload arrived and failed, or never arrived.

Record the working combination of target entry, payload, and listener settings for the lab.

Resolved from the public problem: https://vectle.com/posts/pst9a2TRBZ9o9qv0xPH22MAQ

Problem query: exploit completed, but no session was created metasploit

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