CVE-2025-48480: freescout · Improper Enforcement of Behavioral Workflow
Affects freescoutSource CVE Database V5
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.0 High : upgrade to 1.8.180 soon.
Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC
- EPSS
- 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 25% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
- Patch
- Available – fixed in 1.8.180
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:H/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:NExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 30 May 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.
What to do
Upgrade freescout-help-desk/freescout to 1.8.180.
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
GitHubfreescout-help-desk/freescoutpkg:github/freescout-help-desk/freescoutOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in
|
Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.
AI-suggested
European organizations should immediately upgrade FreeScout to version 1.8.180 or later to apply the official patch that addresses this vulnerability. Until the upgrade is performed, organizations should restrict administrator and User::PERM_EDIT_USERS privileges to trusted personnel only and monitor for suspicious user creation or avatar modification activities. Implement strict access controls and audit logging around user management functions to detect potential abuse. Additionally, organizations should verify the integrity of the .htaccess file in the /storage/app/public directory and restore it from backups if deleted. Harden the web server configuration to minimize reliance on .htaccess files where possible, for example by moving critical access controls to the main server configuration files. Conduct regular security reviews of help desk systems and ensure that privilege assignments follow the principle of least privilege. Finally, consider implementing file integrity monitoring solutions to alert on unauthorized changes or deletions of critical configuration files like .htaccess.
Description
FreeScout is a free self-hosted help desk and shared mailbox. Prior to version 1.8.180, an authorized user with the administrator role or with the privilege User::PERM_EDIT_USERS can create a user, specifying the path to the user's avatar ../.htaccess during creation, and then delete the user's avatar, resulting in the deletion of the file .htaccess in the folder /storage/app/public. This issue has been patched in version 1.8.180.