VulnerabilityPublished 30 May 2025

CVE-2025-48482: freescout · Improper Enforcement of Behavioral Workflow

Affects freescoutSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.3 Medium : upgrade to 1.8.180 when convenient.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 14:05 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score

5.3Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 29% 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:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Attack Requirements: None
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Vulnerable system confidentiality: Low
Vulnerable system integrity: None
Vulnerable system availability: None
Subsequent system confidentiality: None
Subsequent system integrity: None
Subsequent system availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable system is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed below, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed “remotely exploitable” and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: The attacker must take no measurable action to exploit the vulnerability. The attack requires no target-specific circumvention to exploit the vulnerability. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable system.
Attack Requirements: None: The successful attack does not depend on the deployment and execution conditions of the vulnerable system. The attacker can expect to be able to reach the vulnerability and execute the exploit under all or most instances of the vulnerability.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker requires privileges that provide basic capabilities that are typically limited to settings and resources owned by a single low-privileged user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges has the ability to access only non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without interaction from any human user, other than the attacker.
Vulnerable system confidentiality: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the Vulnerable System.
Vulnerable system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Vulnerable System.
Vulnerable system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the Subsequent System or all confidentiality impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Subsequent System or all integrity impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Subsequent System or all availability impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v4.0 specification.

Exploitation 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.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade freescout-help-desk/freescout to 1.8.180.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
GitHubfreescout-help-desk/freescout`pkg:github/freescout-help-desk/freescout`Other threats	Affected <1.8.180	Fixed in 1.8.180

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

Upgrade FreeScout to version 1.8.180 or later, where this vulnerability has been patched. This is the most effective mitigation.
If immediate upgrade is not possible, implement strict input validation and filtering on the server side to restrict client-supplied data fields, especially 'channel' and 'channel_id', preventing unauthorized mass assignment.
Employ application-level access controls to ensure that only authorized users or processes can modify sensitive Customer object properties.
Restrict network exposure of FreeScout instances by limiting access to trusted internal networks or VPNs, reducing the attack surface.
Monitor logs for unusual or unexpected changes to customer data fields that could indicate exploitation attempts.
Conduct regular security assessments and code reviews focusing on mass assignment and input handling vulnerabilities to prevent similar issues.
Educate development and operations teams about secure coding practices related to object property assignment and workflow enforcement.

Description

FreeScout is a free self-hosted help desk and shared mailbox. Prior to version 1.8.180, there is a mass assignment vulnerability. The Customer object is updated using the fill() method, which processes fields such as channel and channel_id. However, the fill() method is called with all client-provided data, including unexpected values for channel and channel_id, leading to a mass assignment vulnerability. This issue has been patched in version 1.8.180.

Impact

For European organizations using FreeScout versions prior to 1.8.180, this vulnerability poses a risk of unauthorized modification of customer-related data within their help desk systems. This could lead to data integrity issues, such as altering customer communication channels or identifiers, which may disrupt customer support workflows or enable further attacks such as privilege escalation or data leakage. Since FreeScout is often used by small to medium enterprises and public sector organizations for managing customer interactions, exploitation could impact service availability and trust. The vulnerability's remote exploitability without authentication increases risk, especially for instances exposed to the internet or insufficiently segmented internal networks. However, the limited scope of impact (confidentiality impact is low) and absence of known active exploits reduce immediate risk. Nonetheless, organizations handling sensitive customer data or operating critical support services should prioritize patching to prevent potential exploitation that could degrade service quality or expose internal data.

CWE-841Improper Enforcement of Behavioral Workflow (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessOWASP Top 10 A06:2025: Insecure Design (opens in a new tab)
The product supports a session in which more than one behavior must be performed by an actor, but it does not properly ensure that the actor performs the behaviors in the required sequence.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Secure Design Principles (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V11.1.1 (opens in a new tab)
V11.1.5 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

github.com/freescout-help-desk/freescout/security/advisories/GHSA-7fjp-538q-9vrf (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 7 Jul 2025, 20:45 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-841

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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