CVE-2026-25501 Null dereference in smf
An attacker can crash the free5GC SMF service by sending a malformed PFCP request, causing a denial of service in 5G core networks.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2026-25501?
CVE-2026-25501 is a medium-severity vulnerability in free5gc smf, published on 24 Feb 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
free5GC SMF provides Session Management Function for free5GC, an open-source project for 5th generation (5G) mobile core networks. In versions up to and including 1.4.1, SMF panics due to nil pointer dereference and the SMF process terminates. This is triggered by a malformed PFCP SessionReportRequest on the SMF PFCP (UDP/8805) interface. No known upstream fix is available, but some workarounds are available. ACL/firewall the PFCP interface so only trusted UPF IPs can reach SMF (reduce spoofing/abuse surface); drop/inspect malformed PFCP SessionReportRequest messages at the network edge where feasible, and/or add recover() around PFCP handler dispatch to avoid whole-process termination (mitigation only).
Weakness: CWE-476
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-25501?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Free5gc Smf.
How do I fix CVE-2026-25501?
No fix has been published for CVE-2026-25501 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Is CVE-2026-25501 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-25501 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in free5gc smf
Sources
Also known as GHSA-vq85-8f6p-g9q5.