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National Vulnerability Database

National Vulnerability Database

NVD

National Vulnerability Database
  1. Vulnerabilities

CVE-2026-40498 Detail

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.


Metrics

 
NVD enrichment efforts reference publicly available information to associate vector strings. CVSS information contributed by other sources is also displayed.
CVSS 4.0 Severity and Vector Strings:

NIST CVSS score
NIST: NVD
N/A
NVD assessment not yet provided.

Nist CVSS score does not match with CNA score
CNA:  GitHub, Inc.
CVSS-BT 8.9 HIGH
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 to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools

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URL Source(s) Tag(s)
https://github.com/freescout-help-desk/freescout/commit/b1d6c2c601a6ec3626ab13e679607b5084dfbd38 GitHub, Inc. Patch 
https://github.com/freescout-help-desk/freescout/releases/tag/1.8.213 GitHub, Inc. Release Notes 
https://github.com/freescout-help-desk/freescout/security/advisories/GHSA-5jw5-q9j7-4rxc CISA-ADP, GitHub, Inc. Exploit  Vendor Advisory 

Weakness Enumeration

CWE-ID CWE Name Source
CWE-200 Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor GitHub, Inc.  
CWE-284 Improper Access Control GitHub, Inc.  
CWE-770 Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling GitHub, Inc.  

Known Affected Software Configurations Switch to CPE 2.2

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Change History

5 change records found show changes

Quick Info

CVE Dictionary Entry:
CVE-2026-40498
NVD Published Date:
04/21/2026
NVD Last Modified:
06/17/2026
Source:
GitHub, Inc.