CVE-2026-40498
Essential information
- Published
- 21/04/2026 16:16
- Modified
- 22/04/2026 17:34
- Author
- —
- Creator
- —
- CVSS
- 8.9 HIGH (v3) 8.9 HIGH (v4.0)
- CISA KEV
- No
- CWE
- —
- CVSS vector
-
—
—
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/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
CVSS metrics
- Access vector
- —
- Access complexity
- —
- Authentication
- —
- Confidentiality impact
- —
- Integrity impact
- —
- Availability impact
- —
- Exploitability
- —
- Remediation level
- —
- Report confidence
- —
- Temporal score
- —
- Attack vector
- —
- Attack complexity
- —
- Privileges required
- —
- User interaction
- —
- Scope
- —
- Confidentiality impact
- —
- Integrity impact
- —
- Availability impact
- —
- Exploit code maturity
- —
- Remediation level
- —
- Report confidence
- —
- Temporal score
- —
- Attack vector
- NETWORK
- Attack complexity
- LOW
- Attack requirements
- NONE
- Privileges required
- NONE
- User interaction
- NONE
- Confidentiality (V)
- HIGH
- Confidentiality (S)
- NONE
- Integrity (V)
- HIGH
- Integrity (S)
- NONE
- Availability (V)
- LOW
- Availability (S)
- NONE
- Exploit maturity
- PROOF_OF_CONCEPT
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.
NVD status
- Status
- Analyzed — CVE is currently being analyzed by NVD staff, this process results in association of reference link tags, CVSS scores, CWE association, and CPE applicability statements.
- Source
- [email protected]
- NVD
- View on NVD
Affected products (CPE)
| Product | CPE |
|---|---|
| freescout / freescout | cpe:2.3:a:freescout:freescout:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |