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Fencer Vulns
high 8.8

CVE-2026-53593 json

FreeScout Vulnerable to Authenticated Remote Code Execution via incomplete upload extension denylist (.pht) — bypass of CVE-2025-48471

published 2026-07-20 3 mo ago modified 2026-10-24 15 d ago also EUVD-2026-46083

cvss
8.8
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.4%
EPSS 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 29%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

FreeScout is a free help desk and shared inbox built with PHP's Laravel framework. Prior to version 1.8.224, the denylist that neutralizes dangerous file uploads (`Helper::$restricted_extensions`) is incomplete: it does not cover the `.pht` extension. The authenticated upload endpoint `POST /uploads/upload` (`SecureController@upload`) stores files with their original extension into the web-accessible directory `storage/app/public/uploads/` (served at `/storage/uploads/`). On the standard Apache + `libapache2-mod-php` deployment, the default handler `<FilesMatch ".+\.ph(ar|p[3457]?|t|tml)$">` executes `.pht`, so **any authenticated agent can upload a `.pht` web shell and run arbitrary commands as the web-server user** (`www-data`). This is a direct bypass of the fix for CVE-2025-48471, which added `phtml`/`phar` but not `pht` (nor `phtm`, `phps`). Version 1.8.224 contains an updated fix.

Patch / fix

  • freescout freescout 1.8.224

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
Proof of concept is public
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total
Assessed
3 mo ago

Exploit prediction

0.35% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 29% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

  • github.com https://github.com/freescout-help-desk/freescout/security/advisories/GHSA-27vp-fpg8-j8wv referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 8.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected products

  • freescout-help-desk freescout

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-434 Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.

CPEs and fixed versions use Anchore's correction of NVD's data: Added CPE configurations because not yet analyzed by NVD.