CVE-2022-40043 is a high-severity SQL injection vulnerability identified in Centreon version 20.10.18. Centreon is an IT infrastructure monitoring software widely used to oversee the health and performance of networks, servers, and applications. The vulnerability exists in the 'esc_name' parameter within the Configuration/Notifications/Escalations module. Specifically, this parameter is vulnerable to SQL injection attacks, classified under CWE-89, which allows an attacker with at least low privileges (PR:L) to inject malicious SQL code remotely over the network (AV:N) without requiring user interaction (UI:N). The vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8, indicating a high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability (C:H/I:H/A:H). Exploiting this flaw could enable attackers to manipulate backend databases, potentially leading to unauthorized data disclosure, modification, or deletion, and could disrupt monitoring operations. Although no public exploits have been reported in the wild, the vulnerability's characteristics make it a significant risk, especially in environments where Centreon is deployed to monitor critical infrastructure. The lack of available patches at the time of reporting increases the urgency for mitigation.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2022-40043 could be substantial. Centreon is commonly used in enterprise and government sectors to monitor IT infrastructure, including critical services. Successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive monitoring data, manipulation of alerting mechanisms, or disruption of monitoring capabilities, potentially delaying detection of other cyber incidents. This could affect sectors such as finance, healthcare, telecommunications, and public administration, where continuous monitoring is essential for operational stability and regulatory compliance. Data confidentiality breaches could also lead to violations of GDPR, resulting in legal and financial penalties. Moreover, the integrity and availability impacts could cause operational downtime or misinformed decision-making due to corrupted monitoring data, amplifying the risk to business continuity.

Organizations should immediately assess their use of Centreon, specifically version 20.10.18, and prioritize upgrading to a patched version once available. In the absence of an official patch, applying web application firewalls (WAFs) with SQL injection detection and prevention rules can help mitigate exploitation attempts. Restricting access to the Centreon web interface to trusted networks and enforcing strong authentication and least privilege principles can reduce the attack surface. Regularly auditing and monitoring logs for unusual database queries or access patterns related to the 'esc_name' parameter is recommended. Additionally, network segmentation to isolate monitoring infrastructure and employing intrusion detection systems (IDS) can provide early warnings of exploitation attempts. Organizations should also prepare incident response plans specific to monitoring infrastructure compromise.