Vulnerability details

CVE-2026-40568

freescout-help-desk freescout

FreeScout Vulnerable to XSS via Mailbox Signature Due to Incomplete HTML Sanitization

CVSS 3.1
8.5High

Official description

FreeScout is a free self-hosted help desk and shared mailbox. Versions prior to 1.8.213 have a stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the mailbox signature feature. The sanitization function `Helper::stripDangerousTags()` (`app/Misc/Helper.php:568`) uses an incomplete blocklist of only four HTML tags (`script`, `form`, `iframe`, `object`) and does not remove event handler attributes. When a mailbox signature is saved via `MailboxesController::updateSave()` (`app/Http/Controllers/MailboxesController.php:267`), HTML elements such as `<img>`, `<svg>`, and `<details>` with event handler attributes like `onerror` and `onload` pass through sanitization unchanged and are stored in the database. The signature is then rendered as raw HTML via the Blade `{!! !!}` tag in `editor_bottom_toolbar.blade.php:6` and re-inserted into the visible DOM by jQuery `.html()` at `main.js:1789-1790`, triggering the injected event handlers. Any authenticated user with the `ACCESS_PERM_SIGNATURE` (`sig`) permission on a mailbox -- a delegatable, non-admin permission -- can inject arbitrary HTML and JavaScript into the mailbox signature. The payload fires automatically, with no victim interaction, whenever any agent or administrator opens any conversation in the affected mailbox. This enables session hijacking (under CSP bypass conditions such as IE11 or module-weakened CSP), phishing overlays that work in all browsers regardless of CSP, and chaining to admin-level actions including email exfiltration via mass assignment and self-propagating worm behavior across all mailboxes. Version 1.8.213 fixes the issue.

CVSS scores

ScoreVersionSourceVector
8.5High 3.1 CVEProject cvelistV5 (CNA) (GitHub_M) CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N

Affected products

VendorProductVersionsSource
freescout-help-desk freescout < 1.8.213 CVEProject cvelistV5 (CNA)

References and advisories

3
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Details

Published
2026-04-21
Last updated
2026-04-22
State
Published
Assigner (CNA)
GitHub_M

Exploit prediction (EPSS)

0.23%
Probability of exploitation in 30 days
14.9%
Percentile (among all CVEs)

SSVC assessment (CISA)

Automatable
No
Exploitation
Proof of concept
Technical impact
Partial

Weaknesses (CWE)

  • CWE-79
    Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
  • CWE-116
    Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output