FreeScout vulnerable to anonymous account takeover via /user-setup empty invite_hash on MySQL

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Summary

CVECVE-2026-53595
StatePUBLISHED
AssignerGitHub_M
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-07-20 21:16:48 UTC
Updated2026-07-21 19:25:11 UTC
DescriptionFreeScout is a free help desk and shared inbox built with PHP's Laravel framework. Prior to version 1.8.224, the public endpoint `POST /user-setup/{hash}/{invite_sent_at}` (`OpenController@userSetupSave`) selects the target account solely by its `invite_hash` column, then overwrites that account's email and password and logs in as it. No authentication, cookie, or prior session is required. After a user activates, FreeScout sets `invite_hash` to the empty string. On MySQL and MariaDB, `VARCHAR` equality ignores trailing spaces, so a single URL-encoded space (`%20`) matches the stored empty string and selects the lowest-id activated user. The expiry guard decrypts `invite_sent_at` with the target's password hash, but `Helper::decrypt` returns its raw input unchanged when decryption fails. A plaintext numeric value such as `9999999999` therefore passes the time-to-live check without any secret. The result is that an anonymous attacker sets the email and password of the lowest-id activated FreeScout account (a support agent, or an administrator if one was added by invitation) and authenticates as that account. Version 1.8.224 contains a fix.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 9.4 CRITICAL from [email protected]

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L

EPSS: 0.003020000 probability, percentile 0.222590000 (date 2026-07-21)

Problem Types: CWE-178 | CWE-287 | CWE-640 | CWE-178 CWE-178: Improper Handling of Case Sensitivity | CWE-287 CWE-287: Improper Authentication | CWE-640 CWE-640: Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Secondary9.4CRITICALCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L
3.1CNADECLARED9.4CRITICALCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
Low

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:L

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Freescout-help-desk Freescout affected < 1.8.224 Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/freescout-help-desk/freescout/security/advisories/GHSA-jqj5-r... 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 github.com
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