# CVE-2025-48473: FreeScout Vulnerable to Insufficient Authorization

> Attackers can view arbitrary messages from other mailboxes or conversations due to missing authorization checks in FreeScout.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.3 (`CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 29 May 2025
- **Updated:** 29 May 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-3x75-7856-r794

## What is CVE-2025-48473?

CVE-2025-48473 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in freescout-help-desk freescout, published on 29 May 2025. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

FreeScout is a free self-hosted help desk and shared mailbox. Prior to version 1.8.179, when creating a conversation from a message in another conversation, there is no check to ensure that the user has the ability to view this message. Thus, the user can view arbitrary messages from other mailboxes or from other conversations to which they do not have access (access restriction to conversations is implemented by the show_only_assigned_conversations setting, which is also not checked). This issue has been patched in version 1.8.179.

Weakness: CWE-863 (Incorrect Authorization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-48473?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Freescout Freescout.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-48473?

No fix has been published for CVE-2025-48473 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2025-48473 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2025-48473 exists.

## Other vulnerabilities in freescout-help-desk freescout

- [CVE-2026-28289](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-28289/): FreeScout 1.8.206 Patch Bypass for CVE-2026-27636 via Zero-Width Space Character Leads to Remote Code Execution (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2026-27637](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-27637/): FreeScout's Predictable Authentication Token Enables Account Takeover (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2026-32754](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-32754/): FreeScout: Stored XSS via Unescaped Email Template Rendering ({!! $thread->body !!}) (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2024-29185](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-29185/): FreeScout OS Command Injection vulnerability (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2026-40498](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-40498/): FreeScout has Authentication Bypass and Information Disclosure in SystemController via /system/cron (high 8.9)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-48473 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-48473 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in freescout-help-desk freescout, published on 29 May 2025. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2025-48473 exists.

Affected product: freescout-help-desk freescout. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-48473/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-48473/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-48473
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-48473
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-48473

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-48473/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.