How can organizations mitigate risks from such vulnerabilities?

Organizations should promptly apply security patches, implement credential rotation, use secrets management solutions, and enforce least-privilege and network segmentation controls to reduce exposure.

Was there any evidence of exploitation before the patch was released?

At the time of the disclosure, there were no public reports of exploitation in the wild, but SAP recommended immediate patching to preempt potential attacks.

Inside SAP’s 2023 Hardcoded Credentials Flaw: Lessons from the SQL Anywhere Monitor Vulnerability

Discover how a critical hardcoded credentials flaw in SAP’s SQL Anywhere Monitor exposed enterprise risk and why patching practices and software supply chain vigilance matter more than ever.

Published: January 10, 2026

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Executive Summary

In November 2023, SAP addressed a critical security vulnerability in SQL Anywhere Monitor (non-GUI version) involving hardcoded credentials, which could allow unauthorized attackers to remotely access and control the system. The security flaw, tracked as CVE-2023-31403, was disclosed via SAP’s monthly update and had a CVSS score of 9.0. Threat actors exploiting such weaknesses could leverage these credentials to escalate privileges, perform lateral movement, and access valuable data or disrupt SAP environments vital to business operations. No evidence of active exploitation was reported, but SAP urged immediate patching.

This disclosure highlights a growing cybersecurity concern: hardcoded secrets in enterprise software remain frequent targets for attackers. Recent surges in vulnerability-driven breaches and intense regulatory scrutiny around software supply chain security make timely remediation of such issues central to overall risk management.

Why This Matters Now

Hardcoded credentials represent a longstanding software security flaw that attackers often exploit for stealthy, privileged access. With increasing attacks on enterprise infrastructure and heightened compliance requirements, swift remediation is crucial—particularly for widely deployed business-critical applications like SAP. Unaddressed, these weaknesses invite regulatory penalties and increase the risk of damaging breaches.

Attack Path Analysis

The attacker initially gained access to the SQL Anywhere Monitor by exploiting hardcoded credentials, providing unauthorized entry. Using these credentials, the attacker likely escalated privileges within the system to access sensitive functions or data. Next, they could have moved laterally across cloud workloads or databases by leveraging available network connectivity. The attacker established a command & control channel, potentially utilizing outbound traffic to communicate with external infrastructure. Sensitive information may have been exfiltrated via unmonitored egress paths, and ultimately, the attacker could have impacted operations by tampering with data or disrupting monitoring services.

Kill Chain Progression

Initial Compromise

High

Privilege Escalation

Mediuminferred

Lateral Movement

Mediuminferred

Command & Control

Lowinferred

Exfiltration

Lowinferred

Impact

Lowinferred

Initial Compromise

Description

Attacker exploited hardcoded credentials in the SQL Anywhere Monitor to gain unauthorized access to the monitoring service.

Confidence:

High

Related CVEs

Included CVEs with severity scores, affected products, exploit status, and reference links.

CVE-2025-42890
CVSS 10
An insecure key and secret management vulnerability in SQL Anywhere Monitor (Non-GUI) allows unauthenticated remote attackers to execute arbitrary code.
Affected Products:
SAP SQL Anywhere Monitor (Non-GUI) – 17.0
Exploit Status:
no public exploit
References:
https://support.sap.com/en/my-support/knowledge-base/security-notes-news/november-2025.html https://me.sap.com/notes/3666261
CVE-2025-42887
CVSS 9.9
A code injection vulnerability in SAP Solution Manager allows authenticated remote attackers to execute arbitrary code.
Affected Products:
SAP Solution Manager – 7.20
Exploit Status:
no public exploit
References:
https://support.sap.com/en/my-support/knowledge-base/security-notes-news/november-2025.html https://me.sap.com/notes/3668705

MITRE ATT&CK® Techniques

Credential Access

T1552

Unsecured Credentials

Initial Access

T1078

Valid Accounts

Execution

T1059

Command and Scripting Interpreter

Defense Evasion

T1211

Exploitation for Defense Evasion

Privilege Escalation

T1055

Process Injection

Persistence

T1136

Create Account

Initial Access

T1566

Phishing

Potential Compliance Exposure

Mapping incident impact across multiple compliance frameworks.

PCI DSS 4.0 – Authentication for All System Components

Control ID: 8.3.1

The existence of hardcoded credentials directly violates requirements to implement strong authentication controls, exposing cardholder environments if in scope.

NYDFS 23 NYCRR 500 – Access Privileges

Control ID: 500.07

Persistent hardcoded credentials undermine proper access management, exposing regulated financial systems to unauthorized access.

DORA (EU Digital Operational Resilience Act) – ICT Security Policy and Procedures

Control ID: Art. 9(2)

Operational flaws such as embedded credentials and code injection indicate inadequate ICT security controls, threatening operational resilience obligations.

CISA Zero Trust Maturity Model 2.0 – Robust Authentication Mechanisms

Control ID: Identity Pillar: Authentication & Access Control

Hardcoded accounts bypass user identity verification and adaptive policies, violating ZTMM principles on robust, least-privilege authentication.

NIS2 Directive – Access Control and Asset Management

Control ID: Article 21(2)(d)

Insecure authentication practices expose essential service infrastructure, contravening NIS2 requirements for proportionate and effective security measures.

Sector Implications

Industry-specific impact of the vulnerabilities, including operational, regulatory, and cloud security risks.

Financial Services

SAP SQL Anywhere hardcoded credentials vulnerability critically impacts financial institutions using SAP systems for transaction processing, customer data management, and regulatory compliance requirements.

Health Care / Life Sciences

Healthcare organizations face severe HIPAA compliance risks from SAP vulnerability exposing patient databases, clinical systems, and protected health information through hardcoded authentication flaws.

Government Administration

Government agencies using SAP systems for citizen services and administrative functions face critical security exposure requiring immediate patching to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing enterprises utilizing SAP for ERP, supply chain management, and production systems face operational disruption risks from SQL Anywhere Monitor vulnerability and Solution Manager code injection.

Sources

SAP fixes hardcoded credentials flaw in SQL Anywhere Monitorhttps://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/sap-fixes-hardcoded-credentials-flaw-in-sql-anywhere-monitor/
Verified

SAP Security Patch Day - November 2025https://support.sap.com/en/my-support/knowledge-base/security-notes-news/november-2025.html

Verified

SAP Security Note 3666261https://me.sap.com/notes/3666261

Verified

SAP Security Note 3668705https://me.sap.com/notes/3668705

Verified

Frequently Asked Questions

Hardcoded credentials can be exploited by attackers to gain unauthorized and persistent access, potentially leading to data theft, privilege escalation, or lateral movement within enterprise networks.

Cloud Native Security Fabric Mitigations and ControlsCNSF

Zero Trust segmentation, workload isolation, and strong egress controls would have confined access to the SQL Anywhere Monitor, limited lateral movement, and prevented unauthorized data exfiltration, reducing both blast radius and impact. CNSF-aligned controls such as internal segmentation, centralized visibility, and policy-driven egress filtering detect and contain threats across the kill chain.

Initial Compromise

Control: Zero Trust Segmentation

Mitigation: Access to sensitive management surfaces is restricted by identity- or policy-based segmentation.

Privilege Escalation

Control: Threat Detection & Anomaly Response

Mitigation: Privileged actions outside baselines are detected and trigger alerts.

Lateral Movement

Control: East-West Traffic Security

Mitigation: Lateral movement across internal networks is blocked or logged.

Command & Control

Control: Egress Security & Policy Enforcement

Mitigation: Unauthorized outbound command and control traffic is identified, blocked, or alerted.

Exfiltration

Control: Egress Security & Policy Enforcement

Mitigation: Data exfiltration via unauthorized egress is prevented or rapidly detected.

Impact (Mitigations)

Centralized visibility ensures rapid detection and remediation of disruptive actions.

Impact at a Glance

Affected Business Functions

Database Management
System Monitoring

Operational Disruption

Estimated downtime: 3 days

Financial Impact

Estimated loss: $500,000

Data Exposure

Potential exposure of sensitive database credentials and system control information.

Recommended Actions

• Enforce Zero Trust Segmentation to isolate cloud management services from general workload access.
• Deploy East-West Traffic Security to restrict and monitor lateral movement between workloads.
• Apply robust Egress Security & Policy Enforcement to detect and block unauthorized outbound and exfiltration activity.
• Integrate Threat Detection & Anomaly Response to baseline normal operations and alert on privilege misuse or anomalous behavior.
• Enhance Multicloud Visibility & Control for unified monitoring, incident response, and policy management across all environments.

Secure the Paths Between Cloud Workloads

A cloud-native security fabric that enforces Zero Trust across workload communication—reducing attack paths, compliance risk, and operational complexity.

Stop Advanced Threats Get a Free Workload Attack Path Assessment Under Active Attack?

Inside SAP’s 2023 Hardcoded Credentials Flaw: Lessons from the SQL Anywhere Monitor Vulnerability

Executive Summary

Why This Matters Now

Attack Path Analysis

Kill Chain Progression

Initial Compromise

Description

Related CVEs

CVE-2025-42890

Affected Products:

Exploit Status:

References:

CVE-2025-42887

Affected Products:

Exploit Status:

References:

MITRE ATT&CK® Techniques

Unsecured Credentials

Valid Accounts

Command and Scripting Interpreter

Exploitation for Defense Evasion

Process Injection

Create Account

Phishing

Potential Compliance Exposure

PCI DSS 4.0 – Authentication for All System Components

NYDFS 23 NYCRR 500 – Access Privileges

DORA (EU Digital Operational Resilience Act) – ICT Security Policy and Procedures

CISA Zero Trust Maturity Model 2.0 – Robust Authentication Mechanisms

NIS2 Directive – Access Control and Asset Management

Sector Implications

Financial Services

Health Care / Life Sciences

Government Administration

Manufacturing

Sources

Frequently Asked Questions

Cloud Native Security Fabric Mitigations and ControlsCNSF

Impact at a Glance

Affected Business Functions

Recommended Actions

Key Takeaways & Next Steps

Secure the Paths Between Cloud Workloads