dbcve.org
Cross-site Scripting (XSS)Weakness · CWE-79

CVE-2026-41904

HIGH · 7.6 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-07
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
FreeScout is a free help desk and shared inbox built with PHP's Laravel framework. Prior to version 1.8.217, a user with updateAutoReply permission can store an XSS payload in the mailbox auto-reply message. The payload is rendered unescaped in the auto-reply email sent to every customer who contacts the mailbox. Email clients do not enforce CSP, so the payload executes in the customer's webmail / mail-client context. This issue has been patched in version 1.8.217.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

FreeScout, a Laravel-based help desk application, contains a stored XSS vulnerability in the auto-reply functionality. Users with the updateAutoReply permission can inject malicious JavaScript into mailbox auto-reply messages, which are rendered unescaped when sent to customers via email. Since email clients do not enforce Content Security Policy (CSP), the payload executes in the recipient's webmail or mail client context, potentially allowing session hijacking or credential theft.

MitigationUpgrade FreeScout to version 1.8.217 or later, which includes proper output encoding for auto-reply messages. Until then, restrict the updateAutoReply permission to highly trusted users only.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify FreeScout installation version
    Check the version number in the FreeScout admin dashboard (typically under Settings > System Info) or inspect the config/app.php file for the 'version' key
    Affected if Installed version is earlier than 1.8.217
  2. Verify auto-reply is enabled for any mailbox
    Navigate to Mailboxes section in the admin panel and check if any mailbox has an auto-reply message configured under the Auto-Reply settings
    Affected if Auto-reply is enabled and contains custom message content
  3. Confirm user permission for auto-reply management
    Check user/role permissions in the FreeScout admin panel under Users or Roles settings to see if the 'updateAutoReply' permission is assigned to any user role
    Affected if Users or roles have the updateAutoReply permission enabled
  4. Inspect auto-reply message content for unescaped HTML
    View the raw content of configured auto-reply messages in the database (e.g., querying the mailboxes or mailbox_settings table) or export auto-reply templates to inspect for unsanitized HTML/script tags
    Affected if Auto-reply content contains raw HTML tags or JavaScript that would require encoding for safe email rendering

A user is affected if running FreeScout version earlier than 1.8.217 with auto-reply functionality enabled and the updateAutoReply permission assigned to users who can inject unsanitized content into auto-reply messages.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade FreeScout to version 1.8.217 or later, which includes proper output encoding for auto-reply messages. Until then, restrict the updateAutoReply permission to highly trusted users only.

Recommended fix High confidence

1.8.217

  1. Backup the current FreeScout installation and database before proceeding
  2. Update FreeScout to version 1.8.217 using your chosen installation method (e.g., composer update, git pull, or reinstall)
  3. Clear any application caches if applicable (e.g., php artisan cache:clear)
  4. Verify the update was successful by checking the version number in the application
  5. Test that the auto-reply functionality properly escapes special characters in the message content

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-41904 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data