An Exploit will take advantage of a vulnerability.
However, if we want the exploit to have the exact result that we want
(gaining access to the target system, read confidential information, etc.),
We need to use a payload.
Payloads are a piece of code that runs on the target system.
-> getting a shell,
-> loading a malware or backdoor to the target system,
-> running a command,
Metasploit has ability to send different payloads...
...that can open shells on the target system.
Metasploit Payload