CVE-2026-44316

Description

### Summary free5GC's PCF `POST /npcf-smpolicycontrol/v1/sm-policies` handler (`HandleCreateSmPolicyRequest`) panics with a nil-pointer dereference when a downstream OpenAPI consumer call (UDR lookup) returns `404 Not Found` and the consumer wrapper returns `err != nil` together with a nil response struct. The handler logs the OpenAPI error and continues executing instead of returning, then dereferences the nil response struct on a subsequent line and panics. Gin recovery converts the panic into `HTTP 500`, so a single attacker-shaped POST returns 500 instead of a clean 4xx whenever the downstream lookup fails. The PCF process keeps running. The trigger is a single POST containing input that causes the downstream UDR lookup to fail (e.g. an unknown DNN). In v4.2.1 this endpoint is also reachable WITHOUT an `Authorization` header because the PCF `Npcf_SMPolicyControl` route group is mounted without inbound auth middleware (see free5gc/free5gc#844). So in the validation lab the trigger is fully unauthenticated. ### Details Validated against the PCF container in the official Docker compose lab. - free5GC version: `v4.1.0` (originally reported on v4.1.0; same defect present in v4.2.1) - PCF endpoint: `http://10.100.200.9:8000` Vulnerable handler path (paraphrased from the captured stack trace): ``` [INFO][PCF][SMpolicy] Handle CreateSmPolicy [ERRO][PCF][Consumer] openapi error: 404, Not Found [ERRO][PCF][GIN] panic: runtime error: invalid memory address or nil pointer dereference github.com/free5gc/pcf/internal/sbi/processor.(*Processor).HandleCreateSmPolicyRequest /go/src/free5gc/NFs/pcf/internal/sbi/processor/smpolicy.go:82 +0x562 github.com/free5gc/pcf/internal/sbi.(*Server).HTTPCreateSMPolicy /go/src/free5gc/NFs/pcf/internal/sbi/api_smpolicy.go:86 +0x405 ``` The handler's UDR-failure branch logs the OpenAPI error but does not return; the next line dereferences the nil response struct. Code evidence (paths in `free5gc/pcf`): - Panic site: - `NFs/pcf/internal/sbi/processor/smpolicy.go:82` - Route dispatch: - `NFs/pcf/internal/sbi/api_smpolicy.go:86` ### PoC Reproduced end-to-end against the running PCF at `http://10.100.200.9:8000`. Send a single POST whose `dnn` is unknown to UDR -- this drives the downstream OpenAPI call to return `404 Not Found`, which then triggers the nil-deref panic: ``` curl -sS -X POST 'http://10.100.200.9:8000/npcf-smpolicycontrol/v1/sm-policies' \ -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \ -d '{ "supi":"imsi-208930000000003", "pduSessionId":1, "dnn":"internet-bad", "sliceInfo":{"sst":1,"sd":"010203"}, "servingNetwork":{"mcc":"208","mnc":"93"}, "accessType":"3GPP_ACCESS", "notificationUri":"http://smf.free5gc.org:8000/npcf-smpolicycontrol/v1/notify" }' ``` Observed response: `HTTP 500 Internal Server Error` with empty body. PCF container logs show: ``` [INFO][PCF][SMpolicy] Handle CreateSmPolicy [ERRO][PCF][Consumer] openapi error: 404, Not Found [ERRO][PCF][GIN] panic: runtime error: invalid memory address or nil pointer dereference ...HandleCreateSmPolicyRequest at smpolicy.go:82... ``` The Gin recovery middleware catches the panic (the captured stack trace runs inside `ginRecover.func2.1`), so the PCF process keeps serving other requests; the realized impact is per-request `HTTP 500` on this endpoint whenever the downstream lookup fails. ### Impact NULL pointer dereference (CWE-476) caused by improper handling of an exceptional branch (CWE-754): the UDR-failure branch logs the OpenAPI error but does not return, then dereferences the nil response struct. The intended behavior is to return a controlled `4xx`/`5xx` `ProblemDetails` and stop processing. Gin recovery catches the panic, so the PCF process is NOT killed and other endpoints continue serving. The realized impact is per-request: any unauthenticated POST that drives the downstream UDR lookup to a `404` returns `HTTP 500` (with empty body and a stack trace in PCF logs) instead of a controlled error response. No Confidentiality impact (the response is `500` with empty body). No persistent Integrity impact (the panic happens before any state mutation). Availability impact is limited to per-request degradation. The endpoint remains reachable to unauthenticated attackers via the route-group auth gap separately tracked in free5gc/free5gc#844. Affected: free5gc v4.2.1 (originally reported against v4.1.0; same defect present). Upstream issue: https://github.com/free5gc/free5gc/issues/803 Upstream fix: https://github.com/free5gc/pcf/pull/62