freescout-help-desk freescout up to 1.8.177 tools.php file_exists php_path code injection

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability identified as critical has been detected in freescout-help-desk freescout up to 1.8.177. Affected is the function file_exists of the file tools.php. The manipulation of the argument php_path leads to code injection. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2025-48390. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. There is no exploit available. You should upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in freescout-help-desk freescout up to 1.8.177. This issue affects the function file_exists of the file tools.php. The manipulation of the argument php_path with an unknown input leads to a code injection vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-94. The product constructs all or part of a code segment using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the syntax or behavior of the intended code segment. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

FreeScout is a free self-hosted help desk and shared mailbox. Prior to version 1.8.178, FreeScout is vulnerable to code injection due to insufficient validation of user input in the php_path parameter. The backticks characters are not removed, as well as tabulation is not removed. When checking user input, the file_exists function is also called to check for the presence of such a file (folder) in the file system. A user with the administrator role can create a translation for the language, which will create a folder in the file system. Further in tools.php, the user can specify the path to this folder as php_path, which will lead to the execution of code in backticks. This issue has been patched in version 1.8.178.

The advisory is shared at github.com. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2025-48390 since 05/19/2025. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated remotely. Additional levels of successful authentication are needed for exploitation. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1059 for this issue.

By approaching the search of inurl:tools.php it is possible to find vulnerable targets with Google Hacking.

Upgrading to version 1.8.178 eliminates this vulnerability.

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Vendor

• freescout-help-desk

Name

• freescout

Version

• 1.8.177

Website

• Product: https://github.com/freescout-help-desk/freescout/

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Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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