Medium Input validation

CVE-2026-53551 — free5GC AUSF: null byte injection in supiOrSuci causes HTTP 500 internal service failure

free5GC is an open-source implementation of the 5G core network. Prior to 1.4.5, the free5GC AUSF (Authentication Server Function) does not validate the supiOrSuci field in UE authentication requests. Null bytes (\x00) and other control characters pass through JSON parsing unchanged and are forwarded to the UDM in an unescaped URL path. This causes Go's net/url.Parse() to fail, returning HTTP 500 "System failure" and leaking internal stack traces. An unauthenticated attacker can trigger this at scale causing denial of service for all subscribers attempting authentication through the affected AUSF. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.4.5.

Published Jul 31, 2026 · Updated Oct 15, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP · CNA: GitHub_M

Low

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.

How the score was calculated

Technical severity (medium)+3
CISA SSVC: exploitation "poc"+5
Automatable exploitation (SSVC)+3

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation

Not confirmed

Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.

EPSS FIRST

—

No EPSS score.

Affects

Free5gc

Ausf and 1 more

CVSS base

6.9

Medium · 2 source(s)

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Exploitation

Proof of concept

none · proof-of-concept · active

Automatable

Yes

can an attacker script the kill-chain steps

Technical impact

Partial

partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

No fix documented by the sources we poll. That does not mean none exists: check the vendor advisory.

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Free5gc Ausf, Free5gc Free5gc).
The attack is network-based and needs no privileges: restrict exposure (ACLs, VPN, WAF) until patched.
No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (input validation), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

Vendor	Product	Versions	Status	Source
Free5gc	Ausf	version < 1.4.5	Vulnerable	CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Free5gc	Free5gc	version < 4.2.2	Vulnerable	CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector

Network

Attack complexity

Low

Attack requirements

None

Privileges required

None

User interaction

None

Scope

Confidentiality (vulnerable system)

None

Integrity (vulnerable system)

None

Availability (vulnerable system)

Low

Confidentiality (subsequent)

None

Integrity (subsequent)

None

Availability (subsequent)

None

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

Score	Version	Severity	Expl.	Impact	Scored by
6.9	CVSS 4.0	Medium	—	—	security-advisories@github.com via NIST National Vulnerability Database
6.9	CVSS 4.0	Medium	—	—	GitHub_M via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

(score shown at the top: security-advisories@github.com)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-20 · Improper Input Validation

Other CVEs with this weakness →

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

Prioritize edge telemetry for the network-reachable component (proxy, WAF, IDS/IPS).

web/proxy/WAF logsnetwork IDS/IPS

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

2026
Affected products added · free5gc/free5gc, free5gc/ausf
Oct 15, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
SSVC assessment updated
Oct 15, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Record published
Oct 15, 2026
CVSS changed · 6.9
Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
Source status changed · → Deferred
Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
Record created in this database
Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
CVE published
Jul 31, 2026 · GitHub_M

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

1× Official description updated · Oct 15, 2026 – Oct 15, 2026

References

6 on the record

github.com/free5gc/ausf/pull/61
x_refsource_MISC, NIST National Vulnerability Database
github.com/free5gc/ausf/commit/bfc4a10094dbacbd862baa4686829f3fcc06ce1e
x_refsource_MISC, NIST National Vulnerability Database
github.com/free5gc/ausf/releases/tag/v1.4.5
x_refsource_MISC, NIST National Vulnerability Database
github.com/free5gc/free5gc/security/advisories/GHSA-qj55-47fp-p62j
x_refsource_CONFIRM, NIST National Vulnerability Database
github.com/free5gc/free5gc/issues/1048
x_refsource_MISC, NIST National Vulnerability Database
github.com/free5gc/free5gc/releases/tag/v4.2.2
x_refsource_MISC, NIST National Vulnerability Database

Elsewhere on this site

Free5gc
every CVE for this vendor

Input validation
same class

CWE-20
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

Low CVE-2026-55785 free5GC AUSF uses non-constant-time authentication comparisons and logs XRES* in 5G-AKA Aug 28, 2026
High CVE-2026-55784 free5GC AUSF authentication contexts can be overwritten by concurrent requests for the same SUPI Aug 28, 2026
Critical CVE-2026-55068 free5GC: NRF nnrf-nfm lacks NF Profile input validation — enables NF Registration Poisoning with arbitrary service endpoints Aug 28, 2026
Critical CVE-2026-44327 free5GC: NEF nnef-oam route group is unauthenticated; no-token requests reach the OAM handler May 27, 2026
Critical CVE-2026-44326 free5GC: NEF 3gpp-traffic-influence API is unauthenticated; missing or forged bearer tokens can create, read, patch, and delete subscriptions May 27, 2026
High CVE-2026-44328 free5GC: SMF UPI DELETE /upi/v1/upNodesLinks/{ref} panics on AN-node deletion via nil UPF dereference; unauthenticated, state-mutating May 27, 2026

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

No FIRST EPSS score.
No fixed version, patch or mitigation documented.
No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2026-53551 is "free5GC AUSF: null byte injection in supiOrSuci causes HTTP 500 internal service failure", rated Medium. It affects Ausf (Free5gc); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 6.9 describes technical severity. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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