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High 8.5Published Apr 21, 2026

CVE-2026-40568FreeScout Vulnerable to XSS via Mailbox Signature Due to Incomplete HTML Sanitization

Updated under an hour ago ()

Does this affect you?

It affects freescout-help-desk freescout. Add what you run to find out whether that includes you.

No exploitation reported and no EPSS estimate yet.

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
8.5 HIGH (v3.1, CNA)CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N
Weakness (CWE)
CWE-79, CWE-116
Known exploited
Not in CISA's KEV catalog
EPSS (exploitation in the next 30 days)
Not loaded for this CVE
Assigned by
GitHub_M
NVD analysis
Deferred
Record last updated
Apr 21, 2026
First seen by InfoSec Signals
Oct 9, 2026

Affected products

Affected products
freescout-help-desk freescout
freescout_help_desk:freescout (from the name)
before 1.8.213
CNA record

References

References

The CVE record is authoritative. Products marked “from the name” were identified from the CNA's free-text names, not a CPE, and are matched less certainly. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.

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