Formal Security Reassessment of the 5G-AKA-FS Protocol: Methodological Corrections and Augmented Verification Techniques

The 5G-AKA protocol, a foundational component for 5G network authentication, has been found vulnerable to various security threats, including linkability attacks that compromise user privacy. To address these vulnerabilities, we previously proposed the 5G-AKA-Forward Secrecy (5G-AKA-FS) protocol, wh...

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Main Authors: Yongho Ko, I Wayan Adi Juliawan Pawana, Ilsun You
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-12-01
Series:Sensors
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/24/24/7979
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author Yongho Ko
I Wayan Adi Juliawan Pawana
Ilsun You
author_facet Yongho Ko
I Wayan Adi Juliawan Pawana
Ilsun You
author_sort Yongho Ko
collection DOAJ
description The 5G-AKA protocol, a foundational component for 5G network authentication, has been found vulnerable to various security threats, including linkability attacks that compromise user privacy. To address these vulnerabilities, we previously proposed the 5G-AKA-Forward Secrecy (5G-AKA-FS) protocol, which introduces an ephemeral key pair within the home network (HN) to support forward secrecy and prevent linkability attacks. However, a re-evaluation uncovered minor errors in the initial BAN-logic verification and highlighted the need for more rigorous security validation using formal methods. In this paper, we correct the BAN-logic verification and advance the formal security analysis by applying an extended SVO logic, which was adopted as it provides a higher level of verification compared to BAN logic, incorporating a new axiom specifically for forward secrecy. Additionally, we enhance the ProVerif analysis by employing a stronger adversarial model. These refinements in formal verification validate the security and reliability of 5G-AKA-FS, ensuring its resilience against advanced attacks. Our findings offer a comprehensive reference for future security protocol verification in 5G networks
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spelling doaj-art-c75a74aeac2743df871137d2e18b7ffb2025-08-20T02:43:21ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202024-12-012424797910.3390/s24247979Formal Security Reassessment of the 5G-AKA-FS Protocol: Methodological Corrections and Augmented Verification TechniquesYongho Ko0I Wayan Adi Juliawan Pawana1Ilsun You2Department of Financial Information Security, Kookmin University, Seoul 02707, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Financial Information Security, Kookmin University, Seoul 02707, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Financial Information Security, Kookmin University, Seoul 02707, Republic of KoreaThe 5G-AKA protocol, a foundational component for 5G network authentication, has been found vulnerable to various security threats, including linkability attacks that compromise user privacy. To address these vulnerabilities, we previously proposed the 5G-AKA-Forward Secrecy (5G-AKA-FS) protocol, which introduces an ephemeral key pair within the home network (HN) to support forward secrecy and prevent linkability attacks. However, a re-evaluation uncovered minor errors in the initial BAN-logic verification and highlighted the need for more rigorous security validation using formal methods. In this paper, we correct the BAN-logic verification and advance the formal security analysis by applying an extended SVO logic, which was adopted as it provides a higher level of verification compared to BAN logic, incorporating a new axiom specifically for forward secrecy. Additionally, we enhance the ProVerif analysis by employing a stronger adversarial model. These refinements in formal verification validate the security and reliability of 5G-AKA-FS, ensuring its resilience against advanced attacks. Our findings offer a comprehensive reference for future security protocol verification in 5G networkshttps://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/24/24/79795G securityforward secrecy (FS)5G-AKA-FSProVerif
spellingShingle Yongho Ko
I Wayan Adi Juliawan Pawana
Ilsun You
Formal Security Reassessment of the 5G-AKA-FS Protocol: Methodological Corrections and Augmented Verification Techniques
Sensors
5G security
forward secrecy (FS)
5G-AKA-FS
ProVerif
title Formal Security Reassessment of the 5G-AKA-FS Protocol: Methodological Corrections and Augmented Verification Techniques
title_full Formal Security Reassessment of the 5G-AKA-FS Protocol: Methodological Corrections and Augmented Verification Techniques
title_fullStr Formal Security Reassessment of the 5G-AKA-FS Protocol: Methodological Corrections and Augmented Verification Techniques
title_full_unstemmed Formal Security Reassessment of the 5G-AKA-FS Protocol: Methodological Corrections and Augmented Verification Techniques
title_short Formal Security Reassessment of the 5G-AKA-FS Protocol: Methodological Corrections and Augmented Verification Techniques
title_sort formal security reassessment of the 5g aka fs protocol methodological corrections and augmented verification techniques
topic 5G security
forward secrecy (FS)
5G-AKA-FS
ProVerif
url https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/24/24/7979
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