Another answer says:
In other words its inconclusive to determine if the transistor is either in the active, saturation or cut-off region. Since there is no reference made with the base terminal.
However, the base being open does not prevent us from calculating \$V_{BE}\$.
If the base is disconnected, then \$I_{B}=0\$. The \$V_{BE}\$ that is present when the base is left unconnected is exactly the same as the \$V_{BE}\$ that if applied across the base and emitter terminals would cause there to be 0 base current. One can then use the Ebers-Moll equations, (or more sophisticated models) to find \$V_{BE}\$ from \$V_{CE}\$ when \$I_B=0\$.
We know that
$$V_{BC}=V_{BE}-V_{CE}$$
From the Ebers-Moll model,
$$I_{B} = I_{S}[\frac{1}{\beta_F}(e^{V_{BE}/V_T}-1) +\frac{1}{\beta_R}(e^{V_{BC}/V_T}-1)]$$
Setting \$I_B=0\$ and rearranging, gives
$$\beta_R(e^{V_{BE}/V_T} -1) + \beta_F(e^{V_{BC}/V_T} -1) = 0 $$
$$\beta_Re^{V_{BE}/V_T} + \beta_Fe^{V_{BC}/V_T} = \beta_R + \beta_F $$
$$\beta_Re^{V_{BE}/V_T} + \beta_Fe^{V_{BE}/V_T-V_{CE}/V_T} = \beta_R + \beta_F $$
$$e^{V_{BE}/V_T}[\beta_R + \beta_Fe^{-V_{CE}/V_T}] = \beta_R + \beta_F $$
So, if I have done my math correctly,
$$e^{V_{BE}/V_T}=\frac{\beta_R + \beta_F} {\beta_R + \beta_Fe^{-V_{CE}/V_T}} $$
If \$V_{CE}\$ is "large" relative to \$V_T\$, and \$\beta_F\$ is large relative to \$\beta_R\$\$\frac{V_{CE}}{V_T}>6\$ then the above approximates to
$$e^{V_{BE}/V_T} \approx \frac{\beta_F}{\beta_R}$$$$e^{V_{BE}/V_T} \approx 1+\frac{\beta_F}{\beta_R}$$
or
$$V_{BE} \approx V_T \cdot ln(\frac{\beta_F}{\beta_R})$$$$V_{BE} \approx V_T \cdot ln\left(1+\frac{\beta_F}{\beta_R}\right)$$
Choosing a random value of \$\frac{\beta_F}{\beta_R}\$ of 30, gives \$V_{BE}\approx 85\$\$V_{BE}\approx 89\$ mV. Consistent with our intuition, when the base is open-circuit, the transistor is in the cutoff region. \$V_{BE}\$ is too small for the transistor to be in the forward active region. There will be some leakage current through the emitter and collector, but it will be relatively small.