gNodeB Spoofing
gNodeB spoofing involves deploying fake 5G base stations that impersonate legitimate network infrastructure to intercept communications and perform man-in-the-middle attacks.
Technical Overview
Similar to rogue eNodeB attacks but targeting 5G networks, gNodeB spoofing exploits the radio interface and initial authentication procedures. Attackers use software-defined radio and open-source 5G stacks to create convincing fake base stations.
- •5G device connection hijacking
- •High-speed data interception
- •Network slicing exploitation
- •SUCI/SUPI extraction attempts
- •Man-in-the-middle positioning
- •Deploy fake gNodeB with legitimate parameters
- •Exploit initial authentication weaknesses
- •Intercept and relay 5G traffic
- •Target specific network slices
- •Exploit 5G-to-4G handover procedures
- 1Set up SDR with 5G capability
- 2Configure open-source 5G stack (srsRAN 5G, OAI)
- 3Mimic legitimate gNodeB parameters
- 4Broadcast to attract device connections
- 5Intercept authentication and traffic
- 6Relay to legitimate network or terminate
- Implement enhanced mutual authentication
- Use gNodeB certificate validation
- Deploy rogue base station detection for 5G
- Monitor for unusual network parameters
- Implement network-level anomaly detection
- Use end-to-end encryption for all services
- →5G security research demonstrations
- →Advanced persistent threat scenarios
- →Targeted surveillance operations
- →Corporate espionage in 5G deployments
Related Attacks
Subscription Concealed Identifier (SUCI) attacks attempt to compromise the 5G privacy mechanism designed to protect subscriber identities through cryptographic concealment.
Network slicing exploits target the 5G feature that creates multiple virtual networks on shared infrastructure, attempting to breach slice isolation or perform cross-slice attacks.
Man-in-the-Middle attacks on LTE networks position the attacker between the device and legitimate network infrastructure to intercept, monitor, and manipulate communications.