CAPEC-618 Metadata
Likelihood of Attack
Medium
Typical Severity
Low
Overview
Summary
In this attack scenario, the attacker uses knowledge of the target’s mobile phone number (i.e., the number associated with the SIM used in the retransmission device) to cause the cellular network to send broadcast messages to alert the mobile device. Since the network knows which cell tower the target’s mobile device is attached to, the broadcast messages are only sent in the Location Area Code (LAC) where the target is currently located. By triggering the cellular broadcast message and then listening for the presence or absence of that message, an attacker could verify that the target is in (or not in) a given location.
Prerequisites
The attacker must have knowledge of the target’s mobile phone number.
Potential Solutions / Mitigations
Frequent changing of mobile number.
Related Weaknesses (CWE)
| CWE ID | Description |
|---|---|
| CWE-201 | Insertion of Sensitive Information Into Sent Data |
Related CAPECs
| CAPEC ID | Description |
|---|---|
| CAPEC-292 | An adversary sends a probe to an IP address to determine if the host is alive. Host discovery is one of the earliest phases of network reconnaissance. The adversary usually starts with a range of IP addresses belonging to a target network and uses various methods to determine if a host is present at that IP address. Host discovery is usually referred to as 'Ping' scanning using a sonar analogy. The goal is to send a packet through to the IP address and solicit a response from the host. As such, a 'ping' can be virtually any crafted packet whatsoever, provided the adversary can identify a functional host based on its response. An attack of this nature is usually carried out with a 'ping sweep,' where a particular kind of ping is sent to a range of IP addresses. |
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