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FreeScout: a restricted agent can lift their own admin-imposed "see only assigned conversations" restriction via profile save

Affects FreeScout versions before 1.8.231 where a non-admin agent restricted to assigned conversations can remove that restriction from their own profile. CVSS rates it High (7.1); no vendor rating is given. Fixed in 1.8.231.

Written by anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5 from the sources below. Verify against them.

7.1HighCNA
Exploited
Proof of concept public, per CISA
Fix
Fixed in 1.8.231
Who is exposed
Specific setups only

Do first: Check whether your setup matches what the bug needs. The restricted agent is a non-admin user whom an administrator has set to see only assigned conversations. The profile page shows the restriction checkbox to non-admin profile owners. The agent can only reach conversations in mailboxes they are a member of.

Published
Last modified
30/100 · provisional
Specific setups only
None on Exploit-DB, Metasploit or GitHub
  • Exploitation: poc
  • Automatable: no
  • Technical impact: partial

Summary

FreeScout, a self-hosted help desk, has a flaw that lets a restricted agent remove the administrator-imposed "see only assigned conversations" limit on their own account. Once removed, the agent can read and modify conversations assigned to other agents in the mailboxes they already belong to. An attacker can do this remotely with low-privilege agent credentials, and no user interaction is needed.

Read the original description

FreeScout is a self-hosted help desk and shared mailbox. Prior to 1.8.231, the profile form exposes the only_assigned_tickets permission to its non-admin owner, and UsersController::profileSave() adds or removes User::PERM_ONLY_ASSIGNED_TICKETS without checking that the editor is an administrator. A restricted agent can uncheck the option, or submit an ordinary profile save that omits it, to remove the administrator-imposed restriction. The agent can then read and modify conversations assigned to other agents in every mailbox they already belong to. This issue is fixed in version 1.8.231.

cve.now Index

30Pcve.now Index 30 of 100 · methodology v3 · provisional
  • Exploitation15/40CISA rates a proof of concept as public
  • Exposure8/25Specific setups only, reachable over the network
  • Reach?/20Unknown. No tracked technology or package matched
  • Severity7.1/10CVSS 7.1
  • No patch0/5No signal

What would change the score

  • Would score about 65 if added to CISA KEV
  • Would score about 60 if CISA's SSVC rates exploitation active
  • Would score about 37 if CISA's SSVC rates it automatable

What to do

  • Check whether your setup matches what the bug needs.

    The restricted agent is a non-admin user whom an administrator has set to see only assigned conversations. The profile page shows the restriction checkbox to non-admin profile owners. The agent can only reach conversations in mailboxes they are a member of.
  • Upgrade to a fixed version: 1.8.231.

Timeline

  1. CVE published
  2. First seen by cve.now
  3. CISA SSVC assessment

    Exploitation: poc · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial

  4. Record last updated

Affected versions

  • freescout-help-desk freescout

    fixed in 1.8.231

Evidence 3

  1. Advisory
  2. Repository
  3. Repository

Corrections

None so far.

Something wrong on this page? Report an error. Every fix is listed here.

Questions about CVE-2026-103985

Is CVE-2026-103985 being exploited?

It is not in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, and CISA's SSVC assessment does not mark exploitation as active. That does not mean it has not been attacked: vendors and researchers can report attacks before CISA lists them. CISA's SSVC assessment notes a proof of concept exists. No public exploit code is tracked.Source: cve.now feed data

What does this mean?

An agent whom an administrator limited to seeing only their assigned conversations can remove that limit from their own profile by saving it. After that, they can see the content of conversations in their mailboxes that are assigned to other agents, and act on them.Source: github.com

Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-103985?

freescout: before 1.8.231.Source: cve.now feed data

Am I affected, and how do I check?

FreeScout versions before 1.8.231 are affected, but only where an administrator has restricted a non-admin agent to seeing only assigned conversations. The profile page shows that restriction checkbox to non-admin users. Access is still limited to mailboxes the agent is a member of; to check your version, look at the FreeScout version in the admin panel.Source: github.com

How do I fix CVE-2026-103985?

Upgrade to a fixed version: 1.8.231.Source: cve.now feed data