{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,24]],"date-time":"2025-10-24T01:53:25Z","timestamp":1761270805304,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,23]],"date-time":"2025-10-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1761177600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Future Internet"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Private fifth generation (5G) networks have emerged as a cornerstone for ultra-reliable, low-latency connectivity across mission-critical domains such as industrial automation, healthcare, and smart cities. Compared to conventional technologies like 4G or Wi-Fi, they provide clear advantages, including enhanced service continuity, higher reliability, and customizable security controls. However, these benefits come with new security challenges, particularly regarding the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data and services. This article presents a review of security vulnerabilities in private 5G networks. The review pursues four objectives: (i) to identify and categorize key vulnerabilities, (ii) to analyze threats that undermine core security principles, (iii) to evaluate mitigation strategies proposed in the literature, and (iv) to outline gaps that demand further investigation. The findings offer a structured perspective on the evolving threat landscape of private 5G networks, highlighting both well-documented risks and emerging concerns. By mapping vulnerabilities to mitigation approaches and identifying areas where current solutions fall short, this study provides critical insights for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. Ultimately, the review underscores the urgent need for robust and adaptive security frameworks to ensure the resilience of private 5G deployments in increasingly complex and high-stakes environments.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/fi17110485","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,24]],"date-time":"2025-10-24T01:35:11Z","timestamp":1761269711000},"page":"485","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Understanding Security Vulnerabilities in Private 5G Networks: Insights from a Literature Review"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Jacinta","family":"Fue","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Computer and Information Sciences, School of Engineering, Computer, and Mathematical Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland 1010, New Zealand"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2103-8636","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jairo A.","family":"Gutierrez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Computer and Information Sciences, School of Engineering, Computer, and Mathematical Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland 1010, New Zealand"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1659-1522","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yezid","family":"Donoso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Systems and Computing Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universidad de los Andes, Bogot\u00e1 111711, Colombia"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ji, S., Garg, A.K., and Mishra, A.K. (2024). 5G Network Implementation: A Survey on Security Issues, Challenges, and Future Directions, IGI Global Scientific Publishing.","DOI":"10.4018\/979-8-3693-5643-2.ch003"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ficzere, D., Soos, G., and Varga, P. (2021, January 25\u201329). A compact 5G Non-Public Network. Proceedings of the 2021 17th International Conference on Network and Service Management (CNSM), Izmir, Turkey.","DOI":"10.23919\/CNSM52442.2021.9615528"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bhosale, K.S., Nenova, M., and Iliev, G. (2021, January 23\u201325). A study of cyber attacks: In the healthcare sector. Proceedings of the 2021 Sixth Junior Conference on Lighting (Lighting), Gabrovo, Bulgaria.","DOI":"10.1109\/Lighting49406.2021.9598947"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1467","DOI":"10.1007\/s11277-023-10821-6","article-title":"5G Security Threat Landscape, AI and Blockchain","volume":"133","author":"Alanazi","year":"2023","journal-title":"Wirel. Pers. Commun."},{"key":"ref_5","first-page":"136","article-title":"Private 5G: The Future of Industrial Wireless","volume":"14","author":"Aijaz","year":"2020","journal-title":"IEEE"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ahmad, I., Kumar, T., Liyanage, M., Okwuibe, J., Ylianttila, M., and Gurtov, A. (2017, January 18\u201320). 5G security: Analysis of threats and solutions. Proceedings of the 2017 IEEE Conference on Standards for Communications and Networking (CSCN), Helsinki, Finland.","DOI":"10.1109\/CSCN.2017.8088621"},{"key":"ref_7","first-page":"7","article-title":"Private 5G Networks: Concepts, Architectures, and Research Landscape","volume":"16","author":"Wen","year":"2022","journal-title":"IEEE"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Tripathi, A., Thakur, A., and Tamma, B.R. (2022, January 10\u201314). Attack Graphs for Standalone Non-Public 5G Networks. Proceedings of the 2022 IEEE Future Networks World Forum (FNWF), Montreal, QC, Canada.","DOI":"10.1109\/FNWF55208.2022.00036"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1007\/s11235-022-00978-z","article-title":"Private 5G networks: A survey on enabling technologies, deployment models, use cases and research directions","volume":"82","author":"Eswaran","year":"2023","journal-title":"Telecommun. Syst."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101334","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jksuci.2022.07.009","article-title":"Mitigating 5G security challenges for next-gen industry using quantum computing","volume":"35","author":"Mangla","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. King Saud Univ. Comput. Inf. Sci."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6833","DOI":"10.1007\/s11276-023-03536-w","article-title":"Development status of 5G private networks in taiwan: Law and practice","volume":"30","author":"Chin","year":"2023","journal-title":"Wirel. Netw."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"102128","DOI":"10.1016\/j.telpol.2021.102128","article-title":"Platform configurations for local and private 5G networks in complex industrial multi-stakeholder ecosystems","volume":"45","author":"Ahokangas","year":"2021","journal-title":"Telecommun. Policy"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100290","DOI":"10.1016\/j.array.2023.100290","article-title":"A Comprehensive review on 5G-based Smart Healthcare Network Security: Taxonomy, Issues, Solutions and Future research directions","volume":"18","author":"Ahad","year":"2023","journal-title":"Array"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"195","DOI":"10.1186\/s13638-021-02067-2","article-title":"Beyond private 5G networks: Applications, architectures, operator models and technological enablers","volume":"2021","author":"Maman","year":"2021","journal-title":"EURASIP J. Wirel. Commun. Netw."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103828","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jnca.2024.103828","article-title":"5G\/6G-enabled metaverse technologies: Taxonomy, applications, and open security challenges with future research directions","volume":"223","author":"Adil","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Netw. Comput. Appl."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Karaagac, A., Dobrijevic, O., Schulz, D., Seres, G., Nazari, A., and Przybysz, H. (2023, January 26\u201328). Managing 5G Non-Public Networks from Industrial Automation Systems. Proceedings of the 2023 IEEE 19th International Conference on Factory Communication Systems (WFCS), Pavia, Italy.","DOI":"10.1109\/WFCS57264.2023.10144248"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kim, W., Kim, K., Lee, J., and Park, H. (2023, January 24\u201327). 5G Architecture Based on Software-Defined Perimeter (SDP) for Direct Trust Access to Private Networks. Proceedings of the 2023 Congress in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, & Applied Computing (CSCE), Las Vegas, NV, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/CSCE60160.2023.00441"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1132","DOI":"10.1016\/j.procir.2022.05.120","article-title":"Measurement and comparison of data rate and time delay of end-devices in licensed sub-6 GHz 5G standalone non-public networks","volume":"107","author":"Lackner","year":"2022","journal-title":"Procedia CIRP"},{"key":"ref_19","first-page":"73","article-title":"Private 5G, \u201cNot As Private As You May Think\u201d","volume":"44","author":"Nimkar","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. Adv. Zool."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Sarakis, L., Trakadas, P., Martrat, J., Prior, S., Trullols-Cruces, O., Coronado, E., Centenaro, M., Kontopoulos, G., Atxutegi, E., and Gkonis, P. (2021, January 7\u201310). Cost-Efficient 5G Non-Public Network Roll-Out: The Affordable5G Approach. Proceedings of the IEEE International Mediterranean Conference on Communications and Networking (MeditCom), Athens, Greece.","DOI":"10.1109\/MeditCom49071.2021.9647555"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Corici, M., Chakraborty, P., Magedanz, T., Gomes, A.S., Cordeiro, L., and Mahmood, K. (2021, January 6\u20138). 5G Non-Public-Networks (NPN) Roaming Architecture. Proceedings of the 2th International Conference on Network of the Future (NoF), Coimbra, Portugal.","DOI":"10.1109\/NoF52522.2021.9609936"},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Djuitcheu, H., Mallikarjun, S.B., Habibi, M.A., Kuruvatti, N.P., and Schotten, H.D. (2023, January 18\u201320). Securing Private 5G Campus Networks: Abstract Survey on Current Status, Security Threats, and Research Landscape. Proceedings of the 2023 2nd International Conference on 6G Networking (6GNet), Paris, France.","DOI":"10.1109\/6GNet58894.2023.10317752"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"162","DOI":"10.56801\/rebicte.v8i.149","article-title":"A Survey on the Security of European 5G Private Networks","volume":"8","author":"Angin","year":"2022","journal-title":"Res. Briefs Inf. Commun. Technol. Evol."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"23","DOI":"10.3390\/jcp4010002","article-title":"Security Vulnerabilities in 5G Non-Stand-Alone Networks: A Systematic Analysis and Attack Taxonomy","volume":"4","author":"Wani","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Cybersecur. Priv."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1865","DOI":"10.1007\/s00500-023-09486-x","article-title":"A formal security analysis of the fast authentication procedure based on the security context in 5G networks","volume":"28","author":"Cui","year":"2024","journal-title":"Soft Comput."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1043","DOI":"10.1007\/s11036-023-02143-5","article-title":"Security and Privacy in 5G-IIoT Smart Factories: Novel Approaches, Trends, and Challenges","volume":"28","author":"Lin","year":"2023","journal-title":"Mob. Netw. Appl."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"107604","DOI":"10.1016\/j.comnet.2020.107604","article-title":"A stakeholder-oriented security analysis in virtualized 5G cellular networks","volume":"184","author":"Suraci","year":"2021","journal-title":"Comput. Netw."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Alwahaishi, S., and Zdr\u00e1lek, J. (2020, January 4\u20137). Biometric Authentication Security: An Overview. Proceedings of the 2020 IEEE International Conference on Cloud Computing in Emerging Markets (CCEM), Bengaluru, India.","DOI":"10.1109\/CCEM50674.2020.00027"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"70204","DOI":"10.1109\/ACCESS.2022.3187727","article-title":"Techno-Economic Analysis of 5G Non-Public Network Architectures","volume":"10","author":"Frank","year":"2022","journal-title":"IEEE Access"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Pavan, G.V., and Sangeetha, V. (2022, January 21\u201323). Survey on Security Risks in 5G Private Industrial Networks. Proceedings of the 2022 4th International Conference on Circuits, Control, Communication and Computing (I4C), Bangalore, India.","DOI":"10.1109\/I4C57141.2022.10057943"},{"key":"ref_31","first-page":"156","article-title":"Securing 5G Non-Public Networks Against Fake Base Station","volume":"10","author":"Liu","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. Robot. Netw. Artif. Life"},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Altaleb, H., and Zolt\u00e1n, R. (2023, January 26\u201328). Addressing Cybersecurity Challenges in 5G-enabled IoT and Critical Infrastructures: A Comprehensive Overview. Proceedings of the 2023 IEEE 27th International Conference on Intelligent Engineering Systems (INES), Nairobi, Kenya.","DOI":"10.1109\/INES59282.2023.10297774"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"109515","DOI":"10.1016\/j.comnet.2022.109515","article-title":"Security and privacy vulnerabilities of 5G\/6G and WiFi 6: Survey and research directions from a coexistence perspective","volume":"221","author":"Ramezanpour","year":"2022","journal-title":"Comput. Netw."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"153893","DOI":"10.1109\/ACCESS.2021.3127482","article-title":"5G Non-Public Networks: Standardization, Architectures and Challenges","volume":"9","author":"Ameigeiras","year":"2021","journal-title":"IEEE Access"},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"421","DOI":"10.1049\/cmu2.12301","article-title":"A review on security threats, vulnerabilities, and counter measures of 5G enabled Internet-of-Medical-Things","volume":"16","author":"Hasan","year":"2021","journal-title":"IET Commun."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Javed, M.A., and Niazi, S.K. (2019, January 20\u201321). 5G Security Artifacts (DoS\/DDoS and Authentication). Proceedings of the 2019 International Conference on Communication Technologies, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.","DOI":"10.1109\/COMTECH.2019.8737800"},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gaber, T., Jazouli, Y.E., Eldesouky, E., and Ali, A. (2021). Autonomous Haulage Systems in the Mining Industry: Cybersecurity, Communication and Safety Issues and Challenges. Electronics, 10.","DOI":"10.3390\/electronics10111357"},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"47","DOI":"10.1080\/10630732.2017.1408002","article-title":"The (In)Security of Smart Cities: Vulnerabilities, Risks, Mitigation, and Prevention","volume":"26","author":"Kitchin","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Urban Technol."},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"51","DOI":"10.1016\/j.procir.2023.08.010","article-title":"Decision-support framework to evaluate the practicality of 5G for intralogistics use cases in standalone non-public networks","volume":"120","author":"Lackner","year":"2023","journal-title":"Procedia CIRP"},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"63484","DOI":"10.1109\/ACCESS.2024.3396791","article-title":"A Multidisciplinary Model to Quantify Human Uncertainty in Human-Centric Cyber-Physical-Social Systems: A 5G Application Use Case","volume":"12","author":"Mejia","year":"2024","journal-title":"IEEE Access"},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"767","DOI":"10.1109\/COMST.2022.3159185","article-title":"Jamming Attacks and Anti-Jamming Strategies in Wireless Networks: A Comprehensive Survey","volume":"24","author":"Pirayesh","year":"2022","journal-title":"IEEE Commun. Surv. Tutor."},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Badhwar, R. (2021). Man-in-the-Middle Attack Prevention. The CISO\u2019s Next Frontier, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-030-75354-2"},{"key":"ref_43","first-page":"94","article-title":"Securing the User Equipment (UE) in LTE Networks by Detecting Fake Base Stations","volume":"4","author":"Mazroa","year":"2015","journal-title":"Int. J. Soft Comput. Eng."},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Purification, S., Wuthier, S., Kim, J., Kim, J., and Chang, S.-Y. (2024, January 29\u201331). Fake Base Station Detection and Blacklisting. Proceedings of the 2024 33rd International Conference on Computer Communications and Networks (ICCCN), Kailua-Kona, HI, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/ICCCN61486.2024.10637542"},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Chakraborty, P., Corici, M., Zope, H., Barjau, C., Awan, M.F., and Ribes, J. (2023, January 6\u20138). A Framework for Roaming between 5G Non-Public-Networks (NPNs). Proceedings of the 2023 IEEE Conference on Standards for Communications and Networking (CSCN), Munich, Germany.","DOI":"10.1109\/CSCN60443.2023.10453146"},{"key":"ref_46","unstructured":"Ord\u00f3\u00f1ez, J.A., Folgueira, J., Contreras, L.M., and Pastor, A. (2019, January 28\u201330). The use of 5G Non-Public Networks to support Industry 4.0 scenarios. Proceedings of the 2019 IEEE Conference on Standards for Communications and Networking (CSCN), Granada, Spain."},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Mohan, J.P., Sugunaraj, N., and Ranganathan, P. (2022, January 19\u201321). Cyber Security Threats for 5G Networks. Proceedings of the 2022 IEEE International Conference on Electro Information Technology (EIT), Mankato, MN, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/eIT53891.2022.9813965"}],"container-title":["Future Internet"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1999-5903\/17\/11\/485\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,24]],"date-time":"2025-10-24T01:48:54Z","timestamp":1761270534000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1999-5903\/17\/11\/485"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,23]]},"references-count":47,"journal-issue":{"issue":"11","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,11]]}},"alternative-id":["fi17110485"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/fi17110485","relation":{},"ISSN":["1999-5903"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"1999-5903"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,23]]}}}