CVE-2023-53960
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedSOUND4 IMPACT/FIRST/PULSE/Eco version 2.x contains an SQL injection vulnerability in the 'index.php' authentication mechanism that allows attackers to manipulate login credentials. Attackers can inject malicious SQL code through the 'password' POST parameter to bypass authentication and potentially gain unauthorized access to the system.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceSOUND4 IMPACT/FIRST/PULSE/Eco version 2.x contains a critical SQL injection vulnerability in the 'index.php' authentication mechanism. Attackers can inject malicious SQL code through the 'password' POST parameter to manipulate login credentials and bypass authentication entirely, potentially gaining full unauthorized access to the system.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data= 2.15= 1.69= 1.16= 1.16= 1.2= 1.30= 1.11= 2.15= 1.69= 2.15= 1.69CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Sound4 product installationCheck for the presence of Sound4 web interface by accessing the target system on common HTTP ports (80, 443, 8080) and looking for the index.php login page. Also check for Sound4-specific HTTP headers or server banners in responses.Affected if The system is running a SOUND4 IMPACT, FIRST, PULSE, or Eco web interface on the network.
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Determine firmware versionAccess the system's admin or status page, typically found at /admin, /status, or within the web interface footer/header. Alternatively, check HTTP server headers or the firmware version display in the login page source.Affected if The installed firmware version matches: 2.15, 1.69, 1.16, 1.2, 1.30, or 1.11 for the affected product lines.
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Verify vulnerable login endpoint existsConfirm that index.php accepts POST requests with a 'password' parameter by examining the login form HTML source or by attempting a login request. The vulnerable code directly incorporates the password parameter into SQL queries.Affected if The index.php login page accepts a POST 'password' parameter without visible input sanitization or parameterized query implementation.
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Check authentication mechanismReview the authentication flow in index.php if access to source code is available, or test with SQL injection payloads in the password field to confirm the vulnerability exists. A successful SQL injection will bypass authentication.Affected if The password parameter is not sanitized or parameterized, allowing SQL injection payloads to manipulate the authentication query.
You are affected if you are running any of the listed Sound4 firmware versions (2.15, 1.69, 1.16, 1.2, 1.30, or 1.11) on IMPACT, FIRST, PULSE, Eco, Big Voice4, Big Voice2, or Wm2 products and the web login interface is accessible.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpgrade to a patched version if available; otherwise, implement strict input validation and use parameterized queries (prepared statements) for all database interactions in the authentication logic to neutralize SQL injection vectors.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-53960 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-53960 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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