Development and Evaluation of CANBench: A Testbed for Assessing the Security of Automotive CAN Buses

Abstract

Modern vehicles rely heavily on electronic control units (ECUs) that communicate via the controller area network (CAN) bus, a protocol developed in the 1980s with minimal security considerations. The growing number of ECUs has heightened the risk of cyberattacks on vehicles. Although CAN bus security has been extensively researched, the CAN standard still lacks built-in security measures. Furthermore, testing proposed security mechanisms is challenging due to the proprietary nature of automotive systems. To address this, an open-source physical testbed was developed using inexpensive, off-the-shelf components to support automotive CAN bus security research. The testbed provides a controlled environment for simulating and evaluating various attacks and defense mechanisms. It was assessed for functionality, reproducibility, and ease of use. Testing demonstrated the testbed’s ability to replay CAN traffic in near real-time and accurately simulate replay, spoofing, and denial of service attacks. Additionally, usability testing was conducted with individuals who had minimal experience with automotive networks. The participants successfully reproduced the tool and executed attacks using the provided documentation. These results highlight the testbed’s reproducibility, usability, and potential to advance future automotive security research.