# CVE-2022-4087: iPXE TLS tls.c tls_new_ciphertext information exposure

> An attacker can exploit a padding discrepancy in iPXE's TLS implementation to expose sensitive information during network boot processes.

- **Severity:** Low 2.6 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 21 Nov 2022
- **Updated:** 15 Apr 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-cj89-cwcx-m929

## What is CVE-2022-4087?

CVE-2022-4087 is a low-severity vulnerability in unspecified iPXE, published on 21 Nov 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability was found in iPXE. It has been declared as problematic. This vulnerability affects the function tls_new_ciphertext of the file src/net/tls.c of the component TLS. The manipulation of the argument pad_len leads to information exposure through discrepancy. The name of the patch is 186306d6199096b7a7c4b4574d4be8cdb8426729. It is recommended to apply a patch to fix this issue. VDB-214054 is the identifier assigned to this vulnerability.

Weakness: CWE-203 (Observable Discrepancy), CWE-284 (Improper Access Control)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-4087?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Ipxe Ipxe.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-4087?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-4087 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2022-4087 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-4087 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-4087 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-4087 is a low-severity vulnerability in unspecified iPXE, published on 21 Nov 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-4087 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: unspecified iPXE. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-4087/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-4087/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-4087
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-4087
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-4087

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-4087/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.