Access ManagerApplication · Microfocus

CVE-2021-22496

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-03-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 4.5.3.3 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Authentication Bypass Vulnerability in Micro Focus Access Manager Product, affects all version prior to version 4.5.3.3. The vulnerability could cause information leakage.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

This is an authentication bypass vulnerability in Micro Focus Access Manager that allows unauthorized access to the system. The flaw enables attackers to circumvent authentication mechanisms, potentially leading to unauthorized access to protected resources and information disclosure.

MitigationUpgrade Micro Focus Access Manager to version 4.5.3.3 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, implement additional access controls and monitor for unauthorized access attempts.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Access ManagerApplication
Affected:< 4.5.3.3

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the installed Access Manager version
    Check the product version through the Access Manager administrative console, or use system information commands (such as 'rpm -q' on Linux or checking Windows Programs and Features) to determine the exact version number of Micro Focus Access Manager installed
    Affected if The installed version is lower than 4.5.3.3 (for example, 4.5.2, 4.5.1, or earlier releases)
  2. Confirm Access Manager authentication services are active
    Log into the Access Manager administrative interface and verify that the authentication framework (NAM, Identity Server, or similar authentication components) is enabled and configured
    Affected if Authentication services are enabled and the installed version is below 4.5.3.3
  3. Review authentication configuration settings
    Inspect the authentication configuration files or console settings to confirm that the NAM Identity Server or authentication gateway is operational and processing login requests
    Affected if The authentication module is active and the version is below 4.5.3.3

You are affected if Micro Focus Access Manager is installed with any version lower than 4.5.3.3 and authentication services are enabled.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 4.5.3.3 or later
Fixed in 4.5.3.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Micro Focus Access Manager to version 4.5.3.3 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, implement additional access controls and monitor for unauthorized access attempts.

Fix this in Access Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-22496 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-22496 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data