An eSIM-based remote credential provisioning and authentication protocol for IoT devices in 5G cellular network

Abstract

Embedded Subscriber Identity Module (eSIM) offers more flexibility compared to Universal Subscriber Identity Module (USIM). Unlike USIM, eSIM enables the operator to remotely provision security credentials in the devices. Therefore, in future deployments of IoT over cellular networks, eSIMs are more likely to be used in comparison to USIMs. In anticipation, the 3rd generation partnership project (3gpp) has recently published a mechanism for remote credential provisioning of eSIM-enabled IoT devices in 5G cellular networks (Technical Specification: TS 33.899, Release 14, Section 12.2). However, this technical specification does not include an authentication protocol, which is an indispensable part of any secure communication. In this paper, we propose a novel authentication protocol to complement the remote credential provisioning mechanism published in TS 33.899. While developing the protocol, due consideration to resource constraints of IoT devices is given by using lightweight cryptographic techniques like elliptic curve cryptography, one-way hash functions, XOR operations, etc. Security analysis of the proposed protocol using BAN logic and AVISPA shows the protocol to be secure. Performance analysis, involving the execution of the protocol in Arduino Uno Rev3 microcontroller board and a workstation, shows the protocol to be efficient in comparison to other similar proposals.