eSIM Profile Theft

In telecommunications, eSIM Profile Theft is the unauthorized provisioning, transfer, or download of an eSIM profile to a device controlled by an attacker, achieved through compromise of the SM-DP+, weak activation codes, or social engineering. It produces effects similar to SIM swap fraud but at the eUICC layer.

Categories: Radio Access NetworkIdentity and SubscriberSecurity Controls

eSIM Profile Theft in context

The radio access network is where mobile devices attach to the operator's infrastructure. Attacks in this layer include IMSI catching, rogue base stations and downgrade attacks; defenses rest on mutual authentication, integrity-protected signaling and Open RAN supply-chain hygiene.

Subscriber identifiers (IMSI, SUPI, MSISDN, IMEI) anchor authentication, charging and lawful interception. Any protocol that leaks a permanent identifier is treated as a privacy defect, which is why 5G introduced SUCI concealment on the air interface.

To place eSIM Profile Theft in the wider telecom-security picture, review 2G, Authentication, IMSI Catcher (Cell Site Simulator), OTA, USIM and WCDMA — each entry cross-references back to this page so you can walk the topic in either direction.

Related terms

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