CVE-2026-2522
📋 TL;DR
A memory corruption vulnerability in Open5GS MME component allows remote attackers to potentially crash the service or execute arbitrary code. This affects Open5GS deployments up to version 2.7.6. The vulnerability is in the esm-build.c file and can be exploited without authentication.
💻 Affected Systems
- Open5GS
📦 What is this software?
Open5gs by Open5gs
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution leading to complete system compromise, service disruption, and potential lateral movement within the network.
Likely Case
Service disruption through denial of service (MME crash) and potential information disclosure from memory corruption.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper network segmentation and exploit prevention controls, potentially just service restart.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploit details have been publicly disclosed in GitHub issues. The vulnerability is remotely exploitable without authentication.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Not available
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/open5gs/open5gs/issues/4283
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Monitor the Open5GS GitHub repository for official patches. 2. Apply patches when available. 3. Restart Open5GS services after patching.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Network Segmentation
linuxRestrict network access to Open5GS MME component to only trusted sources
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport [MME_PORT] -s [TRUSTED_NETWORK] -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport [MME_PORT] -j DROP
Service Monitoring and Restart
linuxImplement monitoring to detect and automatically restart crashed MME services
systemctl enable open5gs-mme
systemctl start open5gs-mme
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict network access controls to limit exposure to trusted sources only
- Deploy intrusion detection/prevention systems to monitor for exploit attempts
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Open5GS version: open5gs-mmed --version or review installed package versionCheck Version:
open5gs-mmed --version || dpkg -l | grep open5gs || rpm -qa | grep open5gsVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is above 2.7.6 after official patch is released📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- MME service crashes
- Memory corruption errors in system logs
- Unexpected process terminations
Network Indicators:
- Unusual traffic patterns to MME port
- Malformed packets targeting MME service
SIEM Query:
source="open5gs.log" AND ("segmentation fault" OR "memory corruption" OR "MME crash")