All organizations · GSoC 2026 · Security

Metasploit

World’s most used penetration testing framework

The Metasploit Framework is both a penetration testing system and a development platform for creating security tools and exploits. The framework is used by network security professionals to perform penetration tests, system administrators to verify patch installations, product vendors to perform regression testing, and security researchers world-wide. The framework is written in the Ruby programming language and includes components written in C, many flavors of Assembly, Python, Powershell, PHP, and other languages. The framework consists of tools, libraries, modules, and user interfaces. The basic function of the framework is a module launcher, allowing the user to configure an exploit module and launch it at a target system. If the exploit succeeds, the payload is executed on the target and the user is provided with a shell to interact with the payload. Hundreds of exploits and dozens of payload options are available.

  • c
  • python
  • postgresql
  • ruby
  • assembly
  • security
  • penetration testing
  • offensive security
  • exploitation

Project ideas

2 ideas on its 2026 ideas page; of the 2 that state a difficulty: 2 medium. Sizes: 1 medium, 1 large. 3 mentors named.

  1. CertificateTrace and KerberosTicketTrace Support medium medium
  2. Automated Vulnerable Environment Provisioning (buildvuln) large medium

Read the ideas page. Ideas are for scope reference; never copy one into a proposal.

History

In GSoC since 2017, 7 years. Projects per year: '17: 2, '18: 5, '20: 2, '21: 1, '22: 1, '23: 1, '26: 3.

On GitHub

45 repositories pushed to in the last year. Main languages: Ruby (23), Python (6), Java (4), C (2), Go (2), JavaScript (2).

Links and channels

go deeper in your terminal
git-into-gsoc org "Metasploit" --shortlist
git-into-gsoc repos "Metasploit"
git-into-gsoc issues --org "Metasploit"
or ask your assistant:
"Which Metasploit repositories merge
newcomers' pull requests, and which beginner
issues are still free?"

Those commands read live data: which repositories merge outside pull requests, and which beginner issues nobody has claimed. Install in two minutes.