Is CVE-2026-53596 exploited in the wild?

No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-53596 being exploited in the wild.

How severe is CVE-2026-53596?

Medium severity, with a CVSS score of 5.3, published 20 July 2026.

Which products and versions are affected?

freescout-help-desk FreeScout < 1.8.224.

Is there a fix for CVE-2026-53596?

No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.

How is CVE-2026-53596 attacked?

It is attacked over the network, in a network appliance.

Am I affected by CVE-2026-53596?

Check whether anything you run is named in the advisory. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

CVE-2026-53596: FreeScout rate limiting failure in file upload endpoint

Q: Is there a fix for CVE-2026-53596?

No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.

Q: How is CVE-2026-53596 attacked?

It is attacked over the network, in a network appliance.

Q: Am I affected by CVE-2026-53596?

Check whether anything you run is named in the advisory. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

CVE-2026-53596 · Severity: medium · CVSS 5.3 · Published 2026-07-20

FreeScout is an open-source help desk and shared inbox platform. A vulnerability in the file upload system allows an attacker to flood the server with an unlimited number of files. This can lead to a complete service outage, database crashes, and exhausted storage space, preventing legitimate customers and staff from using the help desk.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2026-53596 exploited in the wild?: No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-53596 being exploited in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2026-53596?: Medium severity, with a CVSS score of 5.3, published 20 July 2026.
Which products and versions are affected?: freescout-help-desk FreeScout < 1.8.224.
Is there a fix for CVE-2026-53596?: No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.
How is CVE-2026-53596 attacked?: It is attacked over the network, in a network appliance.
Am I affected by CVE-2026-53596?: Check whether anything you run is named in the advisory. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

Technical details

The FreeScout help desk application (built on Laravel) lacks rate limiting, per-user quotas, or CAPTCHA protections on its file upload endpoint. An attacker can send a high volume of concurrent upload requests over the network without authentication (or as a low-privileged user). Each request results in new database records and disk storage consumption. This uncontrolled resource consumption (CWE-400/CWE-770) leads to database I/O overload and disk space exhaustion, resulting in a Denial of Service (DoS) condition. The issue is resolved in version 1.8.224.

Affected products

freescout-help-desk FreeScout < 1.8.224

Timeline

2026-06-10: advisory: GitHub Security Advisory published
2026-07-20: disclosed: CVE published to NVD

References

https://github.com/freescout-help-desk/freescout/security/advisories/GHSA-ph4f-2jhx-q76w

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