CVE-2026-27637
FreeScout's Predictable Authentication Token Enables Account Takeover
- State
- Published
- Severity
- 9.8 Critical
- Published
- Feb 25, 2026
- Updated
- Feb 25, 2026
- Reserved
- Feb 20, 2026
Description
FreeScout is a free help desk and shared inbox built with PHP's Laravel framework. Prior to version 1.8.206, FreeScout's `TokenAuth` middleware uses a predictable authentication token computed as `MD5(user_id + created_at + APP_KEY)`. This token is static (never expires/rotates), and if an attacker obtains the `APP_KEY` — a well-documented and common exposure vector in Laravel applications — they can compute a valid token for any user, including the administrator, achieving full account takeover without any password. This vulnerability can be exploited on its own or in combination with CVE-2026-27636. Version 1.8.206 fixes both vulnerabilities.
Scores
| CVSS | Score | Vector | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | 9.8 Critical | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H | GitHub_M |
Weaknesses
- CWE-330 Use of Insufficiently Random Values
Affected Products
| Product | Versions |
|---|---|
freescoutfreescout-help-desk |
|
References
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