Reliability of International Mobile Station Equipment Identity (IMEI)
In this issue
The international mobile station equipment identity (IMEI) is an identifier defined by 3GPP that aims to uniquely identify a mobile device across the globe. The value of the IMEI is compromised if the IMEI is not unique, not allocated by the global decimal administrator and cannot be relied upon.
This Technical Report describes the overall concept of IMEI, including its format, allocation procedure and security issues. In addition, it provides information about existing vulnerabilities that expose the IMEI to unauthorized reprogramming and proposes preventive measures along with possible solutions to mitigate the issue.
