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VulnerabilityPublished

CVE-2026-40498: freescout · Information Exposure

Affects freescoutSource CVE Database V5

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Public exploit available · CVSS 8.9 High : upgrade to 1.8.213 as a priority.

Data as of 29 Oct 2026, 19:04 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score
8.9High
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
EPSS
0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 47% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch
Available – fixed in 1.8.213
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:P

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 21 Apr 2026

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponized: evidence found.

    CVSS exploit maturity: proof of concept public

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq 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), CVSS vector, the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 29 Oct 2026.

What to do

Upgrade freescout and freescout-help-desk/freescout to 1.8.213.

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
freescout-help-deskfreescoutAffected
  • <1.8.213
Fixed in
  • 1.8.213
GitHubfreescout-help-desk/freescoutpkg:github/freescout-help-desk/freescoutOther threatsAffected
  • <1.8.213
Fixed in
  • 1.8.213

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 1.8.213 or later, where this vulnerability is fixed. The vendor has addressed the issue in this release. Until upgrading, restrict access to the /system/cron endpoint and monitor for unusual activity if possible. Patch status is not explicitly stated in the vendor advisory, but the version update is the official fix.

Description

FreeScout is a free self-hosted help desk and shared mailbox. Prior to version 1.8.213, an unauthenticated attacker can access diagnostic and system tools that should be restricted to administrators. The /system/cron endpoint relies on a static MD5 hash derived from the APP_KEY, which is exposed in the response and logs. Accessing these endpoints reveals sensitive server information (Full Path Disclosure), process IDs, and allows for Resource Exhaustion (DoS) by triggering heavy background tasks repeatedly without any rate limiting. The cron hash is generated using md5(APP_KEY . 'web_cron_hash'). Since this hash is often transmitted via GET requests, it is susceptible to exposure in server logs, browser history, and proxy logs. Furthermore, the lack of rate limiting on these endpoints allows for automated resource exhaustion (DoS) and brute-force attempts. Version 1.8.213 fixes the issue.

References

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