FreeScout is a free help desk and shared inbox built with PHP's Laravel framework. A patch bypass vulnerability for CVE-2026-27636 in FreeScout 1.8.206 and earlier allows any authenticated user with file upload permissions to achieve Remote Code Execution (RCE) on the server by uploading a malicious .htaccess file using a zero-width space character prefix to bypass the security check. The vulnerability exists in the sanitizeUploadedFileName() function in app/Http/Helper.php. The function contains a Time-of-Check to Time-of-Use (TOCTOU) flaw where the dot-prefix check occurs before sanitization removes invisible characters. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.8.207.
CVE-2026-28289
This critical-severity CVE scores 10.0 under the CNA's CVSS (NVD's own analysis pending). EPSS exploit-prediction score not yet available (the EPSS model rescores nightly; freshly-published CVEs typically appear within 48 hours). GitHub Security Advisory data not yet ingested — confidence will rise once GHSA publishes (typical lag: hours to days for open-source ecosystem CVEs; never for infrastructure-only CVEs).
- Public exploit code is available (Metasploit, epss top5pct, public exploit)
No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.
- CVSS v3
- 8.1
- EG Score
- 10.0(low)
- EG Risk
- 86(Track)EG Risk 86/100SSVC: Track
EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).
How it’s computedSeverity100% × 45%Exploitation65% × 40%Automatability100% × 15%Action: Routine — remediate on your standard cadence. - EPSS PROB
- 31%
- EPSS %ILE
- 98%
- KEV
- Not listed
Published
March 3, 2026
Last Modified
June 17, 2026
Advisory Details (2)
Auto-updated Jul 27, 2026commit f7bc16c56a6b (freescout-help-desk/freescout)
Patch available: freescout-help-desk/freescout 1.8.207 (contains commit f7bc16c56a6b)
https://github.com/freescout-help-desk/freescout/commit/f7bc16c56a6b13c06da52ad51fd666546b40818fFreeScout 1.8.206 - Patch Bypass for CVE-2026-27636 via Zero-Width Space Character Leads to Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution · Advisory · freescout-help-desk/freescout · GitHub
https://github.com/freescout-help-desk/freescout/security/advisories/GHSA-5gpc-65p8-ffwpWeakness Classification(1)
MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 3× in last 7d / 3× in last 30d)
Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.
- 2026-07-28 15:36 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-07-27 12:54 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-07-27 12:50 UTCOSV refresh
Publicly available exploits
(1 reference)Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 Metasploit module). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.
- Metasploitexploit/multi/http/freescout_htaccess_rce✓ verifiedFirst seen Mar 1, 2026
FreeScout Unauthenticated RCE via ZWSP .htaccess Bypass
Open source ↗
Related CVEs(same CWE)
Same CWE
10 shownCWE-434
Frequently asked(5)
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Dependency Blast Radius
Explore the affected products and dependency analysis for CVE-2026-28289
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