Overview
CVE-2025-48476 is a critical vulnerability found in FreeScout, a popular self-hosted help desk and shared mailbox solution. This vulnerability allows an authenticated user with editing privileges to potentially change the password of another user, subsequently gaining unauthorized access to the system under the other user’s identity. With a CVSS severity score of 8.8, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to organizations, potentially leading to system compromise or data leakage.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-48476
Severity: Critical, CVSS Score 8.8
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: Low (Authenticated user with editing privileges)
User Interaction: Required
Impact: System Compromise, Data Leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
FreeScout | Prior to 1.8.180
How the Exploit Works
The exploit leverages the fill() method in FreeScout’s codebase, which is used for adding and editing user records. Due to a lack of checks for the absence of the password field in the data received from the user, an attacker can manipulate the user data while editing, adjusting the password field to a value of their choosing. This mass-assignment vulnerability allows the attacker to subsequently log in as the user whose password was changed, potentially granting unauthorized access to sensitive data or system controls.
Conceptual Example Code
Below is a conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited. In this case, the attacker sends a POST request to the endpoint for editing a user, including a new ‘password’ field in the JSON payload:
POST /user/edit HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer <valid_token>
{
"id": "<victim_user_id>",
"password": "<new_password>"
}Upon receipt of this request, the vulnerable application would change the password for the specified user ID to the new password provided by the attacker.
Mitigation Guidance
Organizations are strongly advised to apply the vendor patch provided in version 1.8.180 of FreeScout. If unable to immediately apply the update, temporary mitigation can be achieved through the use of a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) to block malicious requests attempting to exploit this vulnerability.