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UE Security Capability bypass on NGAP PathSwitchRequest

Moderate
gruyaume published GHSA-pwfh-mqp3-pqwj May 6, 2026

Package

gomod github.com/ellanetworks/core (Go)

Affected versions

< 1.10.0

Patched versions

1.10.0

Description

Summary

Ella Core does not verify the UE Security Capabilities received in NGAP PathSwitchRequest messages against its locally stored values. A malicious gNB can overwrite Ella Core's stored UE security capabilities for any UE with arbitrary values by sending a single crafted PathSwitchRequest.

Impact

A gNB can corrupt Ella Core's stored UE security capabilities for a target UE.

Fix

The PathSwitchRequest handler now compares the received UE Security Capabilities against Ella Core's locally stored values, preserves the stored values on mismatch, returns them in the PathSwitchRequestAcknowledge, and logs the event.

Severity

Moderate

CVSS overall score

This score calculates overall vulnerability severity from 0 to 10 and is based on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).
/ 10

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector
Adjacent
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low

CVSS v3 base metrics

Attack vector: More severe the more the remote (logically and physically) an attacker can be in order to exploit the vulnerability.
Attack complexity: More severe for the least complex attacks.
Privileges required: More severe if no privileges are required.
User interaction: More severe when no user interaction is required.
Scope: More severe when a scope change occurs, e.g. one vulnerable component impacts resources in components beyond its security scope.
Confidentiality: More severe when loss of data confidentiality is highest, measuring the level of data access available to an unauthorized user.
Integrity: More severe when loss of data integrity is the highest, measuring the consequence of data modification possible by an unauthorized user.
Availability: More severe when the loss of impacted component availability is highest.
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:L

CVE ID

CVE-2026-44475

Weaknesses

Improperly Implemented Security Check for Standard

The product does not implement or incorrectly implements one or more security-relevant checks as specified by the design of a standardized algorithm, protocol, or technique. Learn more on MITRE.

Credits