ASTRA-5G: Automated Over-the-Air Security Testing and Research Architecture for 5G SA Devices

Despite the widespread deployment of 5G technologies, there exists a critical gap in security testing for 5G Standalone (SA) devices. Existing methods, largely manual and labor-intensive, are ill-equipped to fully uncover the state of security in the implementations of 5G SA protocols and standards on devices, severely limiting the ability to conduct comprehensive evaluations. To address this issue, in this work, we introduce a novel, open-source framework that automates the security testing process for 5G SA devices. By leveraging enhanced functionalities of 5G SA core and Radio Access Network (RAN) software, our framework offers a streamlined approach to generating, executing, and evaluating test cases, specifically focusing on the Non-Access Stratum layer. Our application of this framework across multiple 5G SA devices provides in-depth security insights, significantly improving testing efficiency and breadth.