CVE-2023-4501 CRITICAL

CVE-2023-4501: Authentication bypass in OpenText (Micro Focus) Enterprise Server

Vendor Opentext
Product Visual COBOL, COBOL Server, Enterprise Developer, Enterprise Server
Weakness CWE-287 · Improper authentication
Published September 12, 2023
Last update September 26, 2024

CVSS base score

9.8/10
Attack vector Network
Attack complexity Low
Privileges required None
User interaction None
Confidentiality High
Integrity High

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

What the vulnerability does

01Description

User authentication with username and password credentials is ineffective in OpenText (Micro Focus) Visual COBOL, COBOL Server, Enterprise Developer, and Enterprise Server (including product variants such as Enterprise Test Server), versions 7.0 patch updates 19 and 20, 8.0 patch updates 8 and 9, and 9.0 patch update 1, when LDAP-based authentication is used with certain configurations. When the vulnerability is active, authentication succeeds with any valid username, regardless of whether the password is correct; it may also succeed with an invalid username (and any password). This allows an attacker with access to the product to impersonate any user. Mitigations: The issue is corrected in the upcoming patch update for each affected product. Product overlays and workaround instructions are available through OpenText Support. The vulnerable configurations are believed to be uncommon. Administrators can test for the vulnerability in their installations by attempting to sign on to a Visual COBOL or Enterprise Server component such as ESCWA using a valid username and incorrect password.

Key dates

02Disclosure timeline

September 12, 2023 CVE published
September 26, 2024 Record updated