CVE-2026-33283
Received Received - Intake
Denial of Service via Malformed NAS Messages in Ella Core

Publication date: 2026-03-24

Last updated on: 2026-03-24

Assigner: GitHub, Inc.

Description
Ella Core is a 5G core designed for private networks. Versions prior to 1.6.0 panic when processing malformed UL NAS Transport NAS messages without a Request Type. An attacker able to send crafted NAS messages to Ella Core can crash the process, causing service disruption for all connected subscribers. No authentication is required. Version 1.6.0 adds a guard when receiving an UL NAS Message without a Request Type given no SM Context.
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Meta Information
Published
2026-03-24
Last Modified
2026-03-24
Generated
2026-06-16
AI Q&A
2026-03-24
EPSS Evaluated
2026-06-14
NVD
CVE-2026-33283
Affected Vendors & Products
Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
ellanetworks ella_core to 1.6.0 (exc)
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-476 The product dereferences a pointer that it expects to be valid but is NULL.
Attack-Flow Graph
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Executive Summary

CVE-2026-33283 is a vulnerability in the Ella Core 5G core software affecting versions prior to 1.6.0. The issue occurs when the system processes malformed UL NAS Transport NAS messages that do not include a Request Type. Specifically, the software dereferences a NULL pointer because it expects a valid Request Type, which leads to a crash of the Ella Core process.

An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by sending specially crafted NAS messages without requiring any authentication, causing the process to panic and crash.

The vulnerability was fixed in version 1.6.0 by adding a guard to handle UL NAS messages missing a Request Type when no SM Context is present, preventing the NULL pointer dereference and subsequent crash.

Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can cause a denial of service by crashing the Ella Core process when it receives malformed NAS messages without a Request Type.

As a result, all connected subscribers relying on the affected Ella Core instance may experience service disruption.

Since no authentication is required to exploit this issue, an attacker with network access can remotely trigger the crash, making the system unavailable.

Compliance Impact

I don't know

Detection Guidance

I don't know

Mitigation Strategies

To mitigate this vulnerability, you should upgrade Ella Core to version 1.6.0 or later, as this version includes a guard that prevents the process from crashing when receiving malformed UL NAS Transport NAS messages without a Request Type.

Since the vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to crash the process remotely, applying the update promptly will prevent denial of service and service disruption for all connected subscribers.

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