Security Resilience

CVE-2023-53962

Path Traversal in Sound4 Impact Firmware 1.69 … 2.15

Public PoCPath Traversal
Published
22 December 2025
Modified
16 January 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v4 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:H/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS Score 0.012 69th percentile
Risk Priority 51 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-53962 is a high-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Sound4 Impact Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Data Obfuscation (T1001); ranked in the top 31% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

SOUND4 IMPACT/FIRST/PULSE/Eco v2.x contains an unauthenticated directory traversal vulnerability that permits remote attackers to write arbitrary files via the 'upgfile' parameter in upload.cgi. The flaw is tracked as CWE-22 and carries a CVSS 4.0 score of 8.8, reflecting network attack vector, low complexity, and no required authentication or user interaction.

Attackers can exploit the issue by submitting specially crafted multipart form-data POST requests that include directory traversal sequences, allowing files to be placed in arbitrary system locations outside the intended upload directory.

Public references include an Exploit-DB entry, a Zero Science disclosure (ZSL-2022-5730), and a VulnCheck advisory, but no vendor-supplied patches or mitigation guidance are documented in the available sources. The EPSS score remains flat at 0.0530 with no material increase after disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

SOUND4 IMPACT/FIRST/PULSE/Eco v2.x contains an unauthenticated directory traversal vulnerability that allows remote attackers to write arbitrary files through the 'upgfile' parameter in upload.cgi. Attackers can exploit the vulnerability by sending crafted multipart form-data POST requests with directory traversal sequences to…

more

write files to unintended system locations.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001 Data Obfuscation Command And Control
Adversaries may obfuscate command and control traffic to make it more difficult to detect.
T1003.003 NTDS Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access or create a copy of the Active Directory domain database in order to steal credential information, as well as obtain other information about domain members such as devices, users, and access rights.
T1003.004 LSA Secrets Credential Access
Adversaries with SYSTEM access to a host may attempt to access Local Security Authority (LSA) secrets, which can contain a variety of different credential materials, such as credentials for service accounts.
T1003.006 DCSync Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credentials and other sensitive information by abusing a Windows Domain Controller's application programming interface (API)(Citation: Microsoft DRSR Dec 2017) (Citation: Microsoft GetNCCChanges) (Citati…
T1016.001 Internet Connection Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may check for Internet connectivity on compromised systems.
T1018 Remote System Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may attempt to get a listing of other systems by IP address, hostname, or other logical identifier on a network that may be used for Lateral Movement from the current system.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-27856Shared CWE-22
CVE-2024-43011Shared CWE-22
CVE-2026-7086Shared CWE-22
CVE-2024-10011Shared CWE-22
CVE-2024-55550Shared CWE-22
CVE-2023-43256Shared CWE-22
CVE-2025-32209Shared CWE-22
CVE-2025-4893Shared CWE-22
CVE-2025-53298Shared CWE-22
CVE-2023-2110Shared CWE-22

Affected Assets

sound4
impact firmware
1.69, 2.15
sound4
pulse firmware
1.69, 2.15
sound4
first firmware
1.69, 2.15
sound4
impact eco firmware
1.16
sound4
pulse eco firmware
1.16
sound4
big voice4 firmware
1.2
sound4
big voice2 firmware
1.30
sound4
wm2 firmware
1.11
sound4
stream extension
2.4.29

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.3.2

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Enforces the intended directory access authorizations that path traversal would otherwise bypass.

Input validation directly neutralizes special path elements before pathname construction occurs.

Least privilege reduces the impact of any unauthorized file access obtained via traversal.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-02 partial match
blocks

Patching/maintenance can remediate known path-traversal flaws in deployed software (partial prevention of exploitability) but does nothing to stop the coding defect from being introduced in the first place.

PR.AA-05 none match
blocks

PR.AA-05 defines and reviews access policies but does not address code-level pathname neutralization, so neither direction prevents CWE-22.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

removes
removes
removes
removes
removes

References