FreeScout is a free help desk and shared inbox built with PHP's Laravel framework. Versions 1.8.185 and earlier contain a deserialization of untrusted data vulnerability that allows authenticated attackers with knowledge of the application's APP_KEY to achieve remote code execution. The vulnerability is exploited via endpoint, e.g.: `/help/{mailbox_id}/auth/{customer_id}/{hash}/{timestamp}` where the `customer_id` and `timestamp` parameters are processed through the decrypt function in `app/Helper.php` without proper validation. The code decrypts using Laravel's built-in encryption functions, which subsequently deserialize the decrypted payload without sanitization, allowing attackers to craft malicious serialized PHP objects using classes to trigger arbitrary command execution. This is fixed in version 1.8.186.
This vulnerability carries a HIGH severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 8.8, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction requiring only low-level privileges . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), integrity (unauthorized modifications), and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 1 product from freescout organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.
Reported in 2025, this vulnerability emerged during an era marked by increased sophistication in supply chain attacks, cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) security challenges. Security practices during this period emphasized zero-trust architectures, container security, and API protection.
2025-09-03T02:15:37.193
2025-09-08T15:03:47.560
Analyzed
CVSSv3.1: 8.8 (HIGH)
SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For freescout's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.