CVE-2026-40565: freescout · Cross-site Scripting
Affects freescoutSource CVE Database V5
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.1 Medium : upgrade to 1.8.213 when convenient.
Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 11:52 UTC
- EPSS
- 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 9% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
- Patch
- Available – fixed in 1.8.213
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:NExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 21 Apr 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: 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 30 Oct 2026.
What to do
Upgrade freescout and freescout-help-desk/freescout to 1.8.213.
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| freescout-help-deskfreescout | 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
Upgrade FreeScout to version 1.8.213 or later, where this vulnerability is fixed. Since the vendor advisory indicates the issue is resolved in this version, applying this official fix is the recommended remediation. Patch status is confirmed by the version update note; no alternative mitigations are indicated.
Description
FreeScout is a free self-hosted help desk and shared mailbox. Prior to version 1.8.213, FreeScout's linkify() function in app/Misc/Helper.php converts plain-text URLs in email bodies into HTML anchor tags without escaping double-quote characters (") in the URL. HTMLPurifier (called first via getCleanBody()) preserves literal " characters in text nodes.linkify() then wraps URLs including those " chars inside an unescaped href="..." attribute, breaking out of the href and injecting arbitrary HTML attributes. Version 1.8.213 fixes the issue.