Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-40566

Medium

Published: 21 April 2026

Published
21 April 2026
Modified
22 April 2026
KEV Added
Patch
CVSS Score v3.1 4.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0029 20.7th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-40566 is a medium-severity SSRF (CWE-918) vulnerability. Its CVSS base score is 4.1 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Network Service Discovery (T1046); ranked at the 20.7th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

FreeScout is a free self-hosted help desk and shared mailbox. Versions prior to 1.8.213 have a Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) vulnerability in the IMAP/SMTP connection test functionality of FreeScout's `MailboxesController`. Three AJAX actions `fetch_test` (line 731), `send_test` (line 682), and…

more

`imap_folders` (line 773) in `app/Http/Controllers/MailboxesController.php` pass admin-configured `in_server`/`in_port` and `out_server`/`out_port` values directly to `fsockopen()` via `Helper::checkPort()` and to IMAP/SMTP client connections with zero SSRF protection. There is no IP validation, no hostname restriction, no blocklist of internal ranges, and no call to the project's own `sanitizeRemoteUrl()` or `checkUrlIpAndHost()` functions. The validation block in `connectionIncomingSave()` is entirely commented out. An authenticated admin can configure a mailbox's IMAP or SMTP server to point at any internal host and port, then trigger a connection test. The server opens raw TCP connections (via `fsockopen()`) and protocol-level connections (via IMAP client or SMTP transport) to the attacker-specified target. The response differentiates open from closed ports, enabling internal network port scanning. When the IMAP client connects to a non-IMAP service, the target's service banner or error response is captured in the IMAP debug log and returned in the AJAX response's `log` field, making this a semi-blind SSRF that enables service fingerprinting. In cloud environments, the metadata endpoint at `169[.]254[.]169[.]254` can be probed and partial response data may be leaked through protocol error messages. This is distinct from the `sanitizeRemoteUrl()` redirect bypass (freescout-3) -- different code path, different root cause, different protocol layer. Version 1.8.213 patches the vulnerability.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1046 Network Service Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may attempt to get a listing of services running on remote hosts and local network infrastructure devices, including those that may be vulnerable to remote software exploitation.
T1552.005 Cloud Instance Metadata API Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access the Cloud Instance Metadata API to collect credentials and other sensitive data.
Why these techniques?

SSRF in connection test enables internal port scanning/service fingerprinting (T1046) and cloud metadata endpoint probing (T1522).

Confidence: MEDIUM · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

Affected Assets

Mitigating Controls

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

addresses: CWE-918

Penetration testing attempts server-side requests to internal resources, identifying SSRF weaknesses for remediation.

addresses: CWE-918

Outbound connections to external resources can be monitored and limited at the boundary, reducing SSRF impact.

addresses: CWE-918

Validates server-side URLs and resource references to block SSRF attempts.

addresses: CWE-918

Detects server-side request forgery through monitoring of unexpected outbound connections.

References