CVE-2023-4501
9.8 · CRITICALOverview
CVE-2023-4501 is a critical-severity vulnerability affecting microfocus cobol_server. It was published on September 12, 2023 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL).
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8, rated CRITICAL. It can be exploited remotely over the network. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
Technical 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 Vi
Remediation
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from microfocus. Update cobol_server to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
Affected Products
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Status |
|---|
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2023-4501?
CVE-2023-4501 is a critical-severity vulnerability affecting microfocus cobol_server. It was published on September 12, 2023 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL).
How severe is CVE-2023-4501?
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8, rated CRITICAL. It can be exploited remotely over the network. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
How do I fix or remediate CVE-2023-4501?
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from microfocus. Update cobol_server to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
How can CyberStrike help with CVE-2023-4501?
CyberStrike's AI-powered security agents can automatically detect CVE-2023-4501 across your infrastructure using autonomous pentesting, DAST scanning, and HackBrowser. The platform continuously monitors for known vulnerabilities and provides actionable remediation guidance prioritized by real-world exploitability.
How CyberStrike Helps
AI agents map your attack surface to find vulnerabilities like this one.
Automated penetration testing that runs continuously, not just quarterly.
AI-driven PR review catches vulnerable dependencies before they ship.
Browser-based exploitation validates findings with real proof-of-concept.
Related CRITICAL CVEs from 2023
View all →Out-of-bounds write vulnerability in Remote Desktop Functionality in Synology VPN Plus Server before
Due to improper input sanitization of user-controlled input in SAP BusinessObjects Business Intellig
InHand Networks InRouter 302, prior to version IR302 V3.5.56, and InRouter 615, prior to version In
InHand Networks InRouter 302, prior to version IR302 V3.5.56, and InRouter 615, prior to version In
Sewio’s Real-Time Location System (RTLS) Studio version 2.0.0 up to and including version 2.6.2 cont
Baicells Nova 227, Nova 233, and Nova 243 LTE TDD eNodeB devices with firmware through RTS/RTD 3.7.1
Dompdf is an HTML to PDF converter. The URI validation on dompdf 2.0.1 can be bypassed on SVG parsin
IBM Tivoli Workload Scheduler 9.4, 9.5, and 10.1 is vulnerable to an XML External Entity Injection (
Dompdf is an HTML to PDF converter written in php. Due to the difference in the attribute parser of
A vulnerability has been identified in COMOS V10.2 (All versions), COMOS V10.3.3.1 (All versions < V
Due to improper artibute filtering in the sequalize js library, can a attacker peform SQL injections
Sequelize is a Node.js ORM tool. In versions prior to 6.19.1 a SQL injection exploit exists related