# CVE-2023-2538: TLS Private Key Accessible to External Parties

> Unauthenticated attackers can retrieve TLS private keys from the BMC web interface, enabling Man-in-the-Middle attacks against HTTPS connections.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 5 Jul 2023
- **Updated:** 24 Oct 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-4m78-wr94-p294

## What is CVE-2023-2538?

CVE-2023-2538 is a medium-severity vulnerability in tyan s5552_bmc, published on 5 Jul 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

A CWE-552 "Files or Directories Accessible to External Parties” in the web interface of the Tyan S5552 BMC version 3.00 allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to retrieve the private key of the TLS certificate in use by the BMC via forced browsing. This can then be abused to perform Man-in-the-Middle (MitM) attacks against victims that access the web interface through HTTPS.

Weakness: CWE-552 (Files or Directories Accessible to External Parties)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-2538?

It affects 4 products.


Products: Tyan S5552\/S5552gm2nr Firmware, Tyan S5552\/S5552gm4nr Firmware, Tyan S5552\/S5552wgm4nr-Ex Firmware, Tyan S5552\/S5552wgm4nr Firmware.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-2538?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-2538 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-2538 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-2538 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-2538 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-2538 is a medium-severity vulnerability in tyan s5552_bmc, published on 5 Jul 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-2538 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: tyan s5552_bmc. 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-2023-2538/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-2538/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-2538
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-2538
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-2538

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-2538/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.