SigPloit: published framework for testing telecom vulnerabilities in SS7, GTP, Diameter and SIP protocols

SigPloit framework code published on GitHub . The code was made publicly available by information security researcher Loay Abdelrazek. SigPloit can be used to test vulnerabilities in telecommunication protocols. The appearance of the project can seriously change the situation in the field of information security of telecom operators.

How the system works

The repository description states that SigPloit is a framework for information security professionals in the telecommunications industry. With it, researchers can carry out penetration testing and test known vulnerabilities of signaling protocols in the networks of telecom companies.

As stated by the creators, the goal of the framework is to provide an opportunity to analyze the security of all existing protocols that are used in the infrastructure of telecom operators, including SS7, GTP (3G), Diameter (4G) and even SIP for IMS and VoLTE, which is used at the access level and for encapsulating SS7 messages in SIP-T. The documentation states that during the testing process, the system will also issue recommendations for improving the security of a particular network.

What does this mean for telecom companies

The security of the protocols used by telecommunications companies is often based on their specificity. In practice, this means that the level of security of the telecom infrastructure may be insufficient, however, companies manage to avoid problems due to the small number of researchers who are versed in highly specialized protocols and subtleties of infrastructure. SigPloit framework can be easily modified to a full range of attacks on SS7.

With the advent of public penetration testing tools, the level of entry into the telecom security sector is significantly reduced. Now, attacks on the infrastructure of operators will not be able to specialists with extensive industry experience, but even novice researchers who can use Linux and work with GitHub.

The security of users of telecommunication services will decrease if operators do not pay more attention to its provision.

Positive Technologies experts have repeatedly raised the topic of insecurity of the SS7 signaling protocol ( one , two , three ). Recently, attacks on it have turned from theoretical to practical and affect a large number of users - there are cases when SS7 vulnerabilities allowed attackers to steal user money or hack into their Telegram accounts.