Auth bypass in Free5gc

CVE-2026-44320

free5GC is an open-source implementation of the 5G core network. Prior to 4.2.2, free5GC's NEF mounts the nnef-callback route group without inbound OAuth2/bearer-token authorization. A forged or arbitrary bearer token (e.g. Authorization: Bearer not-a-real-token) is enough to reach the SMF-callback handler -- the callback body is parsed and dispatched into NEF business logic instead of being rejected at the auth boundary. Same root cause as the other NEF SBI findings: the route group is mounted without any inbound auth middleware. NEF does not authenticate the producer NF identity before processing callback content; if an attacker can guess or obtain a valid NotifId, this missing auth boundary lets forged callbacks act on real subscription state. The route group is also reachable even when the runtime ServiceList does not declare it (it lists only nnef-pfdmanagement and nnef-oam). This vulnerability is fixed in 4.2.2.

Vulnerability class: Broken Authentication

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.3 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.004 (29.6th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 30th percentile — 29.6% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2026-44320: held from 0.002 to 0.004.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.002 · newest: 0.004 · change: +0.001

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-44320?
CVE-2026-44320 is a high-severity vulnerability in Free5gc, classified under Missing Authentication for Critical Function. CVSS score: 7.3/10. Published 2026-05-27.
How severe is CVE-2026-44320?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.3 out of 10.