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Secure Open Fronthaul Interface for 5G Networks

Published:17 August 2021Publication History

ABSTRACT

The open fronthaul interface is a standard protocol for a link between the radio units and the distributed unit in RAN, enabling different vendors interoperable. We study the security requirements of the open fronthaul interface for 5G networks. The O-RAN management plane (M-plane) mandates an end-to-end security using SSHv2, whereas the O-RAN control and user plane (CU-plane) do not support any security measure yet. We investigate MACsec for the CU-plane security, which is recommended as one of security options in the eCPRI specification. Furthermore, we implemented quantum-safe crypto solutions using a hybrid mode key exchange and signature schemes, which can be applied for the post-quantum SSH and MACsec protocols.

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  • Published in

    cover image ACM Other conferences
    ARES '21: Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Availability, Reliability and Security
    August 2021
    1447 pages
    ISBN:9781450390514
    DOI:10.1145/3465481

    Copyright © 2021 ACM

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    Association for Computing Machinery

    New York, NY, United States

    Publication History

    • Published: 17 August 2021

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    Overall Acceptance Rate228of451submissions,51%

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