Skip to main content

Authentication Bypass by Spoofing

CVE-2019-18659

Medium
5.3/10

Summary

The Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) protocol allows remote attackers to spoof a Presidential Alert because cryptographic authentication is not used, as demonstrated by MessageIdentifier 4370 in LTE System Information Block 12 (aka SIB12). NOTE: testing inside an RF-isolated shield box suggested that all LTE phones are affected by design (e.g., use of Android versus iOS does not matter); testing in an open RF environment is, of course, contraindicated.

  • LOW
  • NETWORK
  • LOW
  • UNCHANGED
  • NONE
  • NONE
  • NONE
  • NONE

CWE-290 - Authentication Bypass by Spoofing

This attack-focused weakness is caused by improperly implemented authentication schemes that are subject to spoofing attacks.

References

Advisory Timeline

  • Published