Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessAuthenticate as low-privilege agent
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DeliveryIntercept Change Customer API request
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ExploitForge conversation_change_customer POST with out-of-scope customer_email
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ExecutionBackend processes unauthorized reassignment
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PersistAccess conversation with cross-mailbox customer data
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ImpactExfiltrate sensitive customer information
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V8 - Authorization Object-level authorization, IDOR prevention
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| Exploitation Conditions | Requires valid low-privilege agent authentication credentials (PR:L in CVSS vector) for any mailbox within the FreeScout instance. The target FreeScout installation must use multi-mailbox configuration with role-based access controls that restrict agents to specific mailboxes (single-mailbox deployments lack cross-tenant attack surface). The attacker must have visibility to at least one conversation within their authorized mailbox to obtain a valid conversation_id for manipulation. Exploitation is limited to reassigning visible conversations to customers in other mailboxes; the agent cannot create new conversations or directly access the unauthorized mailbox's conversation list (scope remains unchanged, S:U). The backend must be running a version prior to 1.8.214 lacking server-side customer access validation in the conversation_change_customer controller action. |
| Impact | Real-world risk is MODERATE despite CVSS 7.1 (High). The CVSS vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N) indicates network-reachable exploitation with low complexity, but requires valid agent credentials (PR:L) and only affects confidentiality partially (C:L) while maintaining high integrity impact (I:H) from unauthorized data modification. The integrity impact reflects ability to manipulate conversation-customer associations, potentially exposing sensitive customer data across tenant boundaries or enabling social engineering attacks. Exploitation is constrained to authenticated insiders or compromised agent accounts, reducing the attack surface compared to unauthenticated RCE. No EPSS score provided in dataset. Not listed in CISA KEV, indicating no confirmed active exploitation. The SSVC framework would classify this as 'Scheduled' priority: exploitation requires authentication (not automatable), technical impact is partial (data manipulation within help desk scope), and multi-tenant boundary violations have clear business impact for SaaS deployments. The bundling of five related authorization fixes in a single release suggests vendors discovered these through internal audit rather than active exploitation. Priority escalates for multi-tenant FreeScout deployments where mailbox isolation is security-critical; single-tenant or trusted-agent environments face lower practical risk. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An authenticated agent with legitimate access to Mailbox A (Sales) intercepts the Change Customer dialog's network traffic and identifies the conversation_change_customer API endpoint. The agent crafts a POST request with a conversation_id visible in their mailbox but substitutes the customer_email parameter with a high-value customer from Mailbox B (Executive Support), which they cannot normally access. The backend processes the reassignment without verifying mailbox boundaries, binding the conversation to the unauthorized customer. The attacker can now view the conversation's full history including sensitive customer details from Mailbox B, exfiltrate confidential support communications, or manipulate conversation data across tenant boundaries. Exploitation requires only standard HTTP client tools (cURL, Burp Suite) and valid agent credentials. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – May 07, 2026
Privilege escalation in FreeScout allows low-privileged agents to reassign conversations to customers in unauthorized mailboxes. The Change Customer modal enforces mailbox-scoped visibility on the frontend search endpoint, but the backend conversation_change_customer action lacks parallel authorization checks, accepting arbitrary customer_email parameters. An authenticated agent with access to mailbox A can forge requests to bind conversations to customers in mailbox B, bypassing tenant isolation controls. Vendor-released patch version 1.8.214 addresses this authorization bypass alongside four related customer visibility vulnerabilities disclosed concurrently (GHSA-mv55-3mgv-fxwr, GHSA-wjw4-8xg6-342m, GHSA-9ff4-mmhv-x6jp, GHSA-674v-r6xp-mvp6). No active exploitation confirmed (not in CISA KEV); CVSS 7.1 reflects network vector with low complexity but requires authenticated agent credentials.
RemediationAI
Upgrade immediately to FreeScout version 1.8.214 or later from the official GitHub repository at https://github.com/freescout-help-desk/freescout/releases/tag/1.8.214. This release addresses five concurrent customer visibility authorization bypasses (GHSA-p6hg-2cwg-rrx9, GHSA-wjw4-8xg6-342m, GHSA-mv55-3mgv-fxwr, GHSA-9ff4-mmhv-x6jp, GHSA-674v-r6xp-mvp6), implementing server-side customer access validation in conversation reassignment, phone conversation creation, email move operations, and thread undo actions. For environments unable to upgrade immediately, implement compensating controls by restricting agent privileges to single-mailbox access via Laravel middleware or database-level constraints, eliminating cross-mailbox attack vectors (trade-off: reduces legitimate operational flexibility for multi-mailbox support teams). Monitor application logs for conversation_change_customer POST requests with customer_email parameters outside the agent's assigned mailbox scope (detectable via Laravel query logs comparing customer.mailbox_id against agent permissions). Review audit logs for unauthorized conversation reassignments since deployment, focusing on customer email changes where source and destination customers belong to different mailboxes.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
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Technical ContextAI · show details
FreeScout is an open-source help desk system built on Laravel (PHP), using a mailbox-based multi-tenancy model where agents have scoped access to specific customer inboxes. The vulnerability stems from CWE-639 (Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key), where the application performs client-side filtering via a search API endpoint but fails to validate the customer_email parameter server-side in the conversation reassignment action. Laravel applications typically use middleware for authorization; this flaw indicates missing or incomplete authorization checks in the ConversationController's conversation_change_customer method. The cpe:2.3:a:freescout-help-desk:freescout designation confirms the vendor and product namespace. The concurrent disclosure of five related customer visibility bugs (all patched in 1.8.214) suggests systemic authorization issues in customer access control logic across multiple endpoints.
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N
Primary rating from GitHub Advisory · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorGitHub Advisory
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionGitHub Advisory
FreeScout is a free help desk and shared inbox built with PHP's Laravel framework. Prior to version 1.8.214, the Change Customer modal correctly hides out-of-scope customers through the mailbox-filtered search endpoint, but the backend conversation_change_customer action accepts any supplied customer_email. A low-privileged agent can forge a request and bind a visible conversation to a hidden customer in another mailbox. This issue has been patched in version 1.8.214.
Executive ViewAI
FreeScout versions prior to 1.8.214 contain a privilege escalation vulnerability that allows authenticated agents to reassign conversations across mailbox boundaries, potentially exposing sensitive customer data and violating tenant isolation controls. An agent with access to one mailbox can manipulate backend requests to bind conversations to unauthorized customers in separate mailboxes, creating a multi-tenant data exposure risk that affects all organizations using FreeScout for customer support operations.
Vendor-released patch: FreeScout 1.8.214. Until patched, restrict conversation reassignment permissions to senior support staff only; implement logging and monitoring of the conversation_change_customer API endpoint; conduct weekly manual audits of conversation-to-customer assignments across mailboxes to detect unauthorized changes.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.
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EUVD-2026-28409
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
GitHub
Exploit-DB