Detecting and Preventing an Adversarial Network Entity from Tracking a Wireless Device's Location

A wireless device, comprising:

• a memory;
• and
• a processor coupled to the memory and configured with processor-executable software instructions to:
• receive an authentication request message that includes an authentication token (AUTN) and a random value (RAND) from a network entity;
• determine whether a message authentication code (MAC) associated with the authentication token (AUTN) included in the received authentication request message is valid;
• determine whether a sequence number (SQNNN) in the received authentication request message is in a valid range in response to determining that the MAC is valid;
• determine whether the random value (RAND) included in the received authentication request message matches another random value (RAND) stored in the memory in response to determining that the SQNNN of the received authentication request message is not in the valid range;
• and
• determine that the network entity is an adversarial network entity in response to determining that the MAC is valid, the SQNNN of the received authentication request message is not in the valid range, and the random value (RAND) included in the received authentication request message matches another random value (RAND) stored in the memory.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon processor-executable software instructions configured to cause a processor in a wireless device to perform operations comprising:

• receiving an authentication request message that includes an authentication token (AUTN) and a random value (RAND) from a network entity;
• determining whether a message authentication code (MAC) associated with the authentication token (AUTN) included in the received authentication request message is valid;
• determining whether a sequence number (SQNNN) in the received authentication request message is in a valid range in response to determining that the MAC is valid;
• determining whether the random value (RAND) included in the received authentication request message matches another random value (RAND) stored in a memory of the wireless device in response to determining that the SQNNN of the received authentication request message is not in the valid range;
• and
• determining that the network entity is an adversarial network entity in response to determining that the MAC is valid, the SQNNN of the received authentication request message is not in the valid range, and the random value (RAND) included in the received authentication request message matches another random value (RAND) stored in the memory of the wireless device.

A wireless device, comprising:

• means for receiving an authentication request message that includes an authentication token (AUTN) and a random value (RAND) from a network entity;
• means for determining whether a message authentication code (MAC) associated with the authentication token (AUTN) included in the received authentication request message is valid;
• means for determining whether a sequence number (SQNNN) in the received authentication request message is in the valid range in response to determining that the MAC is valid;
• means for determining whether the random value (RAND) included in the received authentication request message matches another random value (RAND) stored in a memory of the wireless device in response to determining that the SQNNN of the received authentication request message is not in the valid range;
• and
• means for determining that the network entity is an adversarial network entity in response to determining that the MAC is valid, the SQNNN of the received authentication request message is not in the valid range, and the random value (RAND) included in the received authentication request message matches another random value (RAND) stored in the memory of the wireless device.