NIST Paper on 5G Hardware Security for Platform Integrity

NIST Publications

Published March 19th, 2026

Detected March 21st, 2026

Summary

NIST has published a white paper detailing the use of hardware-enabled security capabilities to ensure the integrity of 5G system platforms. The paper discusses security threats and how hardware roots of trust and remote attestation can mitigate them.

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What changed

This NIST Cybersecurity White Paper (CSWP) 36B, published on March 19, 2026, outlines the application of hardware-enabled security features to provision, measure, attest to, and enforce the integrity of compute platforms within 5G systems. It addresses security threats in computing environments and proposes the use of hardware roots of trust (HRoT) and remote attestation as mitigation strategies to foster trust in 5G server infrastructure.

This document is part of a series on Applying 5G Cybersecurity and Privacy Capabilities. While it is a guidance document and not a rule, organizations involved in 5G infrastructure development or deployment should review its recommendations for enhancing platform security and integrity. No specific compliance deadlines or penalties are associated with this publication, but it provides technical insights for improving cybersecurity posture.

What to do next

Review NIST CSWP 36B for recommendations on hardware-enabled security for 5G platform integrity.

Source document (simplified)

PUBLICATIONS

Using Hardware- Enabled Security to Ensure 5G System Platform Integrity Applying 5G Cybersecurity and Privacy Capabilities

Published

March 19, 2026

Author(s)

Michael Bartock, Jeffrey Cichonski, Murugiah Souppaya, Karen Kent, Parisa Grayeli, Sanjeev Sharma

Abstract

This white paper provides an overview of employing hardware-enabled [1] security capabilities to provision, measure, attest to, and enforce the integrity of the compute platform to foster trust in a 5G system's server infrastructure. It discusses security threats within computing environments and how leveraging hardware roots of trust (HRoT) and remote attestation can help mitigate specific threats. This white paper is part of a series called Applying 5G Cybersecurity and Privacy Capabilities, which covers 5G cybersecurity- and privacysupporting capabilities that were demonstrated as part of the 5G Cybersecurity project at the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE). Citation NIST Cybersecurity White Papers (CSWP) - 36B Report Number 36B Pub Type NIST Pubs

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.CSWP.36B Local Download

Keywords

3GPP, 5G, cybersecurity, firmware, hardware, hardware-enabled security, hardware root of trust Information technology, Cybersecurity and privacy and Advanced communications

Citation

Bartock, M.
, Cichonski, J.
, Souppaya, M.
, Kent, K.
, Grayeli, P.
and Sharma, S.

(2026),
Using Hardware- Enabled Security to Ensure 5G System Platform Integrity Applying 5G Cybersecurity and Privacy Capabilities, NIST Cybersecurity White Papers (CSWP), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.CSWP.36B, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=961423       
  (Accessed March 20, 2026)