CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2024-28186 — FreeScout is an open source help desk and shared inbox built with PHP

High CVSS 7.1

FreeScout is an open source help desk and shared inbox built with PHP. A vulnerability has been identified in the Free Scout Application, which exposes SMTP server credentials used by an organization in the application to users of the application. This issue arises from the application storing complete stack traces of exceptions in its database. The sensitive information is then inadvertently disclosed to users via the `/conversation/ajax-html/send_log?folder_id=&thread_id={id}` endpoint. The stack trace reveals value of parameters, including the username and password, passed to the `Swift_Transport_Esmtp_Auth_LoginAuthenticator->authenticate()` function. Exploiting this vulnerability allows an attacker to gain unauthorized access to SMTP server credentials. With this sensitive information in hand, the attacker can potentially send unauthorized emails from the compromised SMTP server, posing a severe threat to the confidentiality and integrity of email communications. This could lead to targeted attacks on both the application users and the organization itself, compromising the security of email exchange servers. This issue has been addressed in version 1.8.124. Users are advised…

Severity
High
CVSS
7.1 (3.1)
Published
2024-03-12
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-532

Affected products

  • freescout / freescout

Matched remediation archetype

Information disclosure and sensitive data exposure

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Trace sensitive data through responses, errors, logs, metrics, traces, caches, exports, files, backups, and client bundles.
  • Identify affected subjects, tenants, retention windows, access controls, and downstream copies without opening unnecessary sensitive records.
  • Review metadata, timing, status, length, and existence signals as well as direct content disclosure.

Remediate safely

  • Minimize collection and output, apply field-level authorization and redaction at a centralized boundary, and return generic external errors.
  • Remove secrets and sensitive data from logs, artifacts, URLs, caches, and client-side bundles; rotate credentials that may have been exposed.
  • Update the affected component and add synthetic-data tests for response, error, observability, and export paths.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

The detailed catalog view below loads this exact record, its source evidence, and the full seven-phase agentic change plan.