Vulnerability · Published May 27, 2026 · Assigned by GitHub_M
CVE-2026-44330free5GC: NEF nnef-pfdmanagement API is unauthenticated; forged bearer tokens can read PFD data and create/delete PFD subscriptions
Critical 10.0
In plain English
A critical-severity incorrect authorization in free5gc from free5gc. Proof-of-concept exploit code is public. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.3% (higher than 21% of all known vulnerabilities).
Official description
free5GC is an open-source implementation of the 5G core network. Prior to 4.2.2, free5GC's NEF mounts the nnef-pfdmanagement route group without inbound OAuth2/bearer-token authorization. A network attacker who can reach NEF on the SBI can use a forged or arbitrary bearer token (e.g. Authorization: Bearer not-a-real-token) to read PFD application data via GET /applications and GET /applications/{appID}, and to create or delete PFD change-notification subscriptions via POST /subscriptions and DELETE /subscriptions/{subID}. Same root cause as the other NEF SBI findings: the route group is mounted without any inbound auth middleware. Unlike the OAM and traffic-influence groups, nnef-pfdmanagement IS declared in the runtime ServiceList, so this is the production-intended path that operators expect to be protected by OAuth2 setting receive from NRF: true -- and it is not. This vulnerability is fixed in 4.2.2.
Affected packages & fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Go | github.com/free5gc/nef | no fix listed | GHSA-rwww-x45w-p52w |
| Go | github.com/free5gc/nef | no fix listed | GO-2026-5642 |
Affected products (as reported)
Weakness: CWE-863 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:H/A:H
References
- https://github.com/free5gc/free5gc/security/advisories/GHSA-rwww-x45w-p52w x_refsource_CONFIRM