Dashboard / CVE-2026-40498

CVE-2026-40498

HIGH
MEDIUM Priority: 0.05 BB Relevance: 78/100
Published: 2026-04-21 Modified: 2026-11-11 First seen: 2026-11-11 Status: active

Attack Surface

Network Low Complexity No Auth No Interaction Conf. Impact Integ. Impact

CVSS Vector Breakdown

AV: Network
AC: Low
PR: None
UI: None
S: X
AT: None
VC: High
VI: High
VA: Low

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.

Weakness Classification (3)

Affected Software (1)

VendorProductVersion
freescout freescout < 1.8.213

References & Advisories (3)

Bug Bounty Relevance

78 / 100
✓ Network accessible
✓ No authentication
✓ Low complexity
✓ No user interaction

CVSS Score

8.9 / 10.0 v4.0
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

EPSS — Exploitation Probability

0.57%
Raw Score 0.005710
Percentile 47.8%
Date 2026-11-13

EPSS Trend

2026-11-13
0.00571
2026-11-12
0.00571
2026-11-10
0.00571

Intelligence Sources

nvd ref →

External Links