Cyber 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 0.011 63th percentile
Risk Priority 51 floored blend · peak EPSS

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 Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 37% 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

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-21048Shared CWE-22
CVE-2026-23939Shared CWE-22
CVE-2024-7145Shared CWE-22
CVE-2023-42225Shared CWE-22
CVE-2024-33109Shared CWE-22
CVE-2023-35016Shared CWE-22
CVE-2025-10723Shared CWE-22
CVE-2023-1163Shared CWE-22
CVE-2024-43996Shared CWE-22
CVE-2024-48510Shared 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
prevents

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
prevents

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.

finds

Security testing in development catches path traversal via static/dynamic analysis.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates input validation and path sanitization that directly prevent path traversal.

prevents

Application security requirements include rules for safe file handling and canonicalization.

prevents

Secure architecture principles require least-privilege file access and directory isolation.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe path construction and mandate safe APIs.

mitigates

Information access restriction limits which files an application may read or write.

References