Vulnerability Database

346,508

Total vulnerabilities in the database

CVE-2023-4501 — microfocus / cobol_server

Improper Authentication

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.

  • Published: Sep 12, 2023
  • Updated: Nov 16, 2025
  • CVE: CVE-2023-4501
  • Severity: Critical
  • Exploit:

CVSS v3:

  • Severity: Critical
  • Score: 9.8
  • AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Software From Fixed in
microfocus / cobol_server 9.0-patch_update_1 9.0-patch_update_1.x
microfocus / cobol_server 8.0-patch_update_8 8.0-patch_update_8.x
microfocus / cobol_server 8.0-patch_update_9 8.0-patch_update_9.x
microfocus / cobol_server 7.0-patch_update_19 7.0-patch_update_19.x
microfocus / cobol_server 7.0-patch_update_20 7.0-patch_update_20.x
microfocus / visual_cobol 9.0-patch_update_1 9.0-patch_update_1.x
microfocus / visual_cobol 8.0-patch_update_8 8.0-patch_update_8.x
microfocus / visual_cobol 8.0-patch_update_9 8.0-patch_update_9.x
microfocus / visual_cobol 7.0-patch_update_19 7.0-patch_update_19.x
microfocus / visual_cobol 7.0-patch_update_20 7.0-patch_update_20.x
microfocus / enterprise_developer 9.0-patch_update_1 9.0-patch_update_1.x
microfocus / enterprise_developer 8.0-patch_update_8 8.0-patch_update_8.x
microfocus / enterprise_developer 8.0-patch_update_9 8.0-patch_update_9.x
microfocus / enterprise_developer 7.0-patch_update_19 7.0-patch_update_19.x
microfocus / enterprise_developer 7.0-patch_update_20 7.0-patch_update_20.x
microfocus / enterprise_test_server 9.0-patch_update_1 9.0-patch_update_1.x
microfocus / enterprise_test_server 8.0-patch_update_8 8.0-patch_update_8.x
microfocus / enterprise_test_server 8.0-patch_update_9 8.0-patch_update_9.x
microfocus / enterprise_test_server 7.0-patch_update_19 7.0-patch_update_19.x
microfocus / enterprise_test_server 7.0-patch_update_20 7.0-patch_update_20.x
microfocus / enterprise_server 9.0-patch_update_1 9.0-patch_update_1.x
microfocus / enterprise_server 8.0-patch_update_8 8.0-patch_update_8.x
microfocus / enterprise_server 8.0-patch_update_9 8.0-patch_update_9.x
microfocus / enterprise_server 7.0-patch_update_19 7.0-patch_update_19.x
microfocus / enterprise_server 7.0-patch_update_20 7.0-patch_update_20.x

Frequently Asked Questions

A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.

CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.

A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.

Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.

Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.

SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.