Summary
PCF Npcf_SMPolicyControl missing authentication middleware allows unauthenticated access to SM policy handlers and disclosure of subscriber SUPI
Details
In NewServer(), the smPolicyGroup route group is created and routes are applied without attaching the router authorization middleware. In contrast, other PCF service groups such as Npcf_PolicyAuthorization do attach RouterAuthorizationCheck before route registration.
Because the middleware is missing, requests to the following endpoints can reach business logic even when no valid OAuth token is provided:
POST /npcf-smpolicycontrol/v1/sm-policies
GET /npcf-smpolicycontrol/v1/sm-policies/{smPolicyId}
POST /npcf-smpolicycontrol/v1/sm-policies/{smPolicyId}/update
POST /npcf-smpolicycontrol/v1/sm-policies/{smPolicyId}/delete
This is visible at runtime because unauthenticated requests return business-level responses such as 400 or 404 instead of being rejected with 401 before handler execution. Under valid lab preconditions (existing UE/session context and related policy data), unauthenticated POST /sm-policies can succeed with 201, and unauthenticated GET /sm-policies/{id} can succeed with 200 and return policy context containing subscriber identifiers including supi.
The root cause is missing router auth enforcement for Npcf_SMPolicyControl.
Upstream also fixed this by adding RouterAuthorizationCheck to smPolicyGroup (and uePolicyGroup) in free5gc/pcf PR #63.
PoC
- Deploy free5GC with PCF reachable on the SBI network.
- Use the PoC against the PCF service without an
Authorization header:
go run /home/ubuntu/free5gc/tools/npcf-smpolicy-noauth-poc/main.go \
--pcf-root /home/ubuntu/free5gc/NFs/pcf \
--pcf-url http://10.100.200.9:8000 \
--timeout 4s
Observe that unauthenticated requests to Npcf_SMPolicyControl return business responses instead of 401.
Impact
This is an authentication/authorization bypass on a network-accessible SBI service. Any unauthenticated actor able to reach the PCF SBI interface can invoke Npcf_SMPolicyControl handlers directly.
References
Summary
PCF Npcf_SMPolicyControl missing authentication middleware allows unauthenticated access to SM policy handlers and disclosure of subscriber SUPI
Details
In
NewServer(), thesmPolicyGrouproute group is created and routes are applied without attaching the router authorization middleware. In contrast, other PCF service groups such asNpcf_PolicyAuthorizationdo attachRouterAuthorizationCheckbefore route registration.Because the middleware is missing, requests to the following endpoints can reach business logic even when no valid OAuth token is provided:
POST /npcf-smpolicycontrol/v1/sm-policiesGET /npcf-smpolicycontrol/v1/sm-policies/{smPolicyId}POST /npcf-smpolicycontrol/v1/sm-policies/{smPolicyId}/updatePOST /npcf-smpolicycontrol/v1/sm-policies/{smPolicyId}/deleteThis is visible at runtime because unauthenticated requests return business-level responses such as
400or404instead of being rejected with401before handler execution. Under valid lab preconditions (existing UE/session context and related policy data), unauthenticatedPOST /sm-policiescan succeed with201, and unauthenticatedGET /sm-policies/{id}can succeed with200and return policy context containing subscriber identifiers includingsupi.The root cause is missing router auth enforcement for
Npcf_SMPolicyControl.Upstream also fixed this by adding
RouterAuthorizationChecktosmPolicyGroup(anduePolicyGroup) in free5gc/pcf PR #63.PoC
Authorizationheader:Observe that unauthenticated requests to Npcf_SMPolicyControl return business responses instead of 401.
Impact
This is an authentication/authorization bypass on a network-accessible SBI service. Any unauthenticated actor able to reach the PCF SBI interface can invoke Npcf_SMPolicyControl handlers directly.
References