CVE-2026-40568

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

State
Published
Severity
8.5 High
Published
Apr 21, 2026
Updated
Apr 21, 2026
Reserved
Apr 14, 2026

Read the record on cve.org

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.

Scores

CVSSScoreVectorSource
3.18.5 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:NGitHub_M

Weaknesses

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

Affected Products

ProductVersions
freescoutfreescout-help-desk
  • < 1.8.213Affected

References

Every record here comes from the CVE Program’s CVE List. © 1999–2026 The MITRE Corporation. CVE is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation. The records are reproduced under the CVE Program terms of use.