High severity · published May 27, 2026
CVE-2026-44320
free5GC: NEF nnef-callback route group is unauthenticated; forged callback requests are accepted into the processing path
7.3
CVSS
0.2%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
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.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.2% · higher than 15% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
FR
free5gc · free5gc
< 4.2.2 · source: vendor, NVD
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-44320
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-44320
Exploit
https://github.com/free5gc/free5gc/issues/860
Exploit
https://github.com/free5gc/free5gc/security/advisories/GHSA-wqfh-gq79-j8mf
Issue Tracking
https://github.com/free5gc/nef/pull/24
More from free5gc
10.0
CVE-2026-44327
free5GC: NEF nnef-oam route group is unauthenticated; no-token requests reach the OAM handler
10.0
CVE-2026-44329
free5GC: SMF UPI management interface lacks auth middleware; unauthenticated topology read/write requests reach handlers
10.0
CVE-2026-44330
free5GC: NEF nnef-pfdmanagement API is unauthenticated; forged bearer tokens can read PFD data and create/delete PFD subscriptions
9.4
CVE-2026-44315
free5GC: NEF 3gpp-pfd-management API is unauthenticated; forged bearer tokens can create, read, and delete PFD transactions
9.4
CVE-2026-44326
free5GC: NEF 3gpp-traffic-influence API is unauthenticated; missing or forged bearer tokens can create, read, patch, and delete subscriptions
