CVE-2023-49954 is a critical SQL Injection vulnerability affecting the CRM Integration component of the 3CX software versions prior to 18.0.9.23 and 20 prior to 20.0.0.1494. 3CX is a widely used IP PBX and unified communications platform that integrates telephony with CRM systems to streamline business communications. The vulnerability arises because the CRM Integration module improperly sanitizes user-supplied input fields such as first name, search string, or email address before incorporating them into SQL queries. This lack of input validation allows an attacker to inject malicious SQL code, potentially enabling unauthorized access to the backend database. Exploiting this flaw requires no authentication and no user interaction, as the attack vector is through crafted input fields that are processed by the CRM Integration. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 9.8 (critical), reflecting the vulnerability's network attack vector (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required (PR:N), no user interaction (UI:N), and its impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability (all high). Successful exploitation could lead to full compromise of the underlying database, allowing attackers to read, modify, or delete sensitive data, disrupt communications, or pivot to other internal systems. Although no known exploits are currently reported in the wild, the severity and ease of exploitation make this a high-risk vulnerability that requires immediate attention from organizations using affected 3CX versions.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2023-49954 is significant due to the widespread adoption of 3CX in enterprise telephony and CRM integration. Compromise of the CRM database can lead to exposure of sensitive customer data, internal communications, and business intelligence, violating GDPR and other data protection regulations, potentially resulting in heavy fines and reputational damage. Additionally, attackers could disrupt telephony services, impacting business continuity and customer service operations. The ability to alter or delete data could also affect billing, sales tracking, and compliance reporting. Given the critical nature of the vulnerability and the lack of required authentication, attackers can remotely exploit this flaw, increasing the risk of large-scale attacks targeting European companies that rely on 3CX for unified communications. This threat is particularly acute for sectors with high regulatory scrutiny such as finance, healthcare, and government agencies, where data integrity and availability are paramount.

Organizations should immediately upgrade 3CX to versions 18.0.9.23 or later, or 20.0.0.1494 or later, where this vulnerability has been patched. If immediate patching is not feasible, implement network-level controls to restrict access to the CRM Integration interfaces, such as IP whitelisting and VPN-only access. Employ Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect and block SQL injection patterns targeting the affected input fields (first name, search string, email address). Conduct thorough input validation and sanitization on all CRM-related inputs as an additional defense-in-depth measure. Regularly audit and monitor database logs for suspicious queries indicative of injection attempts. Finally, ensure that database accounts used by the CRM Integration have the least privileges necessary to limit the impact of any potential compromise.