Vulnerability · Published Apr 21, 2026 · Assigned by GitHub_M
CVE-2026-40498FreeScout has Authentication Bypass and Information Disclosure in SystemController via /system/cron
High 8.9
In plain English
A high-severity information exposure in freescout from freescout-help-desk. Proof-of-concept exploit code is public. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.6% (higher than 47% of all known vulnerabilities).
Official 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.
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| freescout-help-desk | freescout | < 1.8.213 |
Weakness: CWE-200, CWE-284, CWE-770 · 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
References
- https://github.com/freescout-help-desk/freescout/security/advisories/GHSA-5jw5-q9j7-4rxc x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/freescout-help-desk/freescout/commit/b1d6c2c601a6ec3626ab13e679607b5084dfbd38 x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/freescout-help-desk/freescout/releases/tag/1.8.213 x_refsource_MISC