Enabling Physical Localization of Uncooperative Cellular Devices

TL;DR

This paper introduces UMA, a novel attack that enables physical localization of uncooperative cellular devices by forcing continuous traffic, boosting signal strength, and differentiating signals, without needing privileged access.

Contribution

The paper presents UMA, a new method to overcome real-world challenges in localizing uncooperative cellular devices, applicable across LTE networks without privileged access.

Findings

UMA effectively forces continuous device transmission.

UMA boosts target signal to maximum levels.

UMA differentiates target signals from repeaters.

Abstract

In cellular networks, authorities may need to physically locate user devices to track criminals or illegal equipment. This process involves authorized agents tracing devices by monitoring uplink signals with cellular operator assistance. However, tracking uncooperative uplink signal sources remains challenging, even for operators and authorities. Three key challenges persist for fine-grained localization: i) devices must generate sufficient, consistent uplink traffic over time, ii) target devices may transmit uplink signals at very low power, and iii) signals from cellular repeaters may hinder localization of the target device. While these challenges pose significant practical obstacles to localization, they have been largely overlooked in existing research. This work examines the impact of these real-world challenges on cellular localization and introduces the Uncooperative Multiangulation Attack (UMA) to address them. UMA can 1) force a target device to transmit traffic continuously, 2) boost the target's signal strength to maximum levels, and 3) uniquely differentiate between signals from the target and repeaters. Importantly, UMA operates without requiring privileged access to cellular operators or user devices, making it applicable to any LTE network. Our evaluations demonstrate that UMA effectively overcomes practical challenges in physical localization when devices are uncooperative.