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

Severity: critical (CVSS 9.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.8% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2023-09-12 · updated 2026-08-04
Weakness: CWE-253

Description

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.

Affected products

Micro Focus COBOL Server: 7.0-patch_update_19, 7.0-patch_update_20, 8.0-patch_update_8, 8.0-patch_update_9, 9.0-patch_update_1
Micro Focus Enterprise Developer: 7.0-patch_update_19, 7.0-patch_update_20, 8.0-patch_update_8, 8.0-patch_update_9, 9.0-patch_update_1
Micro Focus Enterprise Server: 7.0-patch_update_19, 7.0-patch_update_20, 8.0-patch_update_8, 8.0-patch_update_9, 9.0-patch_update_1
Micro Focus Enterprise Test Server: 7.0-patch_update_19, 7.0-patch_update_20, 8.0-patch_update_8, 8.0-patch_update_9, 9.0-patch_update_1
Micro Focus Visual COBOL: 7.0-patch_update_19, 7.0-patch_update_20, 8.0-patch_update_8, 8.0-patch_update_9, 9.0-patch_update_1

References

Get alerted when CVE-2023-4501 or the next vulnerability affects your stack