https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/issues/8858 PHP Meterpreter was defunct for past few days in MSF Master: If you are using PHP meterpreter on master branch of metasploit-framework, the payload was defunct due to a bug https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/issues/8858 this issue talks about the bug and a fix is also added in the metasploit-payloads package. In short create_function was added in php code to bypass suhousin but was called incorrectly causing php meterpreter to fail with an error message. New fix although minor ensures the payload works both with and without suhousin patch on php server. https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-payloads/pull/227