Mobile communication networks connect much of the world's population. The
security of users' calls, SMSs, and mobile data depends on the guarantees
provided by the Authenticated Key Exchange protocols used. For the
next-generation network (5G), the 3GPP group has standardized the 5G AKA
protocol for this purpose. We provide the first comprehensive formal model of a
protocol from the AKA family: 5G AKA. We also extract precise requirements from
the 3GPP standards defining 5G and we identify missing security goals. Using
the security protocol verification tool Tamarin, we conduct a full, systematic,
security evaluation of the model with respect to the 5G security goals. Our
automated analysis identifies the minimal security assumptions required for
each security goal and we find that some critical security goals are not met,
except under additional assumptions missing from the standard. Finally, we make
explicit recommendations with provably secure fixes for the attacks and
weaknesses we found.Comment: Categories (ACM class 2012): Security and privacy - Formal methods
and theory of security -- Security requirements -- Formal security models --
Logic and verification; Network protocols - Protocol correctness -- Formal
specifications; Security and privacy - Network security -- Mobile and
wireless security - Security services -- Privacy-preserving protocol