Incident Score: Analysis & Impact (SEMQUE1786444258)
The details regarding individual company incidents & reports gives you full view from every side.
Rankiteo Score Impact Analysis
Key Highlights From The Incident Analysis
- Timeline of Quectel's Vulnerability and lateral movement inside company's environment.
- Overview of affected data sets, including SSNs and PHI, and why they materially increase incident severity.
- How Rankiteo’s incident engine converts technical details into a normalized incident score.
- How this cyber incident impacts Quectel Rankiteo cyber scoring and cyber rating.
- Rankiteo’s MITRE ATT&CK correlation analysis for this incident, with associated confidence level.
Full Incident Analysis Transcript
In this Rankiteo incident briefing, we review the Quectel breach identified under incident ID SEMQUE1786444258.
The analysis begins with a detailed overview of Quectel's information like the linkedin page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/quectel-wireless-solutions, the number of followers: 214475, the industry type: Telecommunications and the number of employees: 969 employees
After the initial compromise, the video explains how Rankiteo's incident engine converts technical details into a normalized incident score. The incident score before the incident was 763 and after the incident was 760 with a difference of -3 which is could be a good indicator of the severity and impact of the incident.
In the next step of the video, we will analyze in more details the incident and the impact it had on Quectel and their customers.
Autel recently reported "Malicious SIM Cards Exploit Proactive Functionality to Hijack Devices", a noteworthy cybersecurity incident.
Researchers from the University of Birmingham and Fuzzware uncovered critical vulnerabilities in how SIM cards interact with smartphones and IoT devices, enabling attackers to execute code, steal data, or force devices onto insecure 2G networks.
The disruption is felt across the environment, affecting Smartphones, IoT modems, EV chargers, and exposing File theft, unauthorized data access.
In response, moved swiftly to contain the threat with measures like Disabling SIM AT interface by default (Qualcomm), GSMA tracking (CVD-2026-0122), and began remediation that includes Patches for Android 13–16 (CVE-2025-48618), advocacy to retire RUN AT commands, and stakeholders are being briefed through Disclosure to Google, Oppo, Quectel, Semtech, Qualcomm, and GSMA.
The case underscores how Disclosed to vendors, patches issued for some affected systems, teams are taking away lessons such as Proactive SIM functionality and legacy AT commands pose significant security risks, especially in IoT devices. Modern smartphones are less exposed, but IoT modems remain vulnerable, and recommending next steps like Retire high-risk proactive SIM features like RUN AT, disable SIM AT interfaces by default, and apply patches for vulnerable Android versions. Enhance supply chain security for SIM cards, with advisories going out to stakeholders covering Vendors (Google, Oppo, Quectel, Semtech, Qualcomm) and GSMA notified. Qualcomm disabled SIM AT interface by default.
Finally, we try to match the incident with the MITRE ATT&CK framework to see if there is any correlation between the incident and the MITRE ATT&CK framework.
The MITRE ATT&CK framework is a knowledge base of techniques and sub-techniques that are used to describe the tactics and procedures of cyber adversaries. It is a powerful tool for understanding the threat landscape and for developing effective defense strategies.
MITRE ATT&CK® Correlation Analysis
Rankiteo's analysis has identified several MITRE ATT&CK tactics and techniques associated with this incident, each with varying levels of confidence based on available evidence. Under the Initial Access tactic, the analysis identified Hardware Additions (T1200) with high confidence (90%), supported by evidence indicating malicious SIM Cards Exploit Proactive Functionality to Hijack Devices and Supply Chain Compromise: Compromise Software Supply Chain (T1195.002) with moderate to high confidence (80%), supported by evidence indicating sIM control achievable through...supply chain manipulation. Under the Execution tactic, the analysis identified Command and Scripting Interpreter: Network Device CLI (T1059.008) with high confidence (90%), supported by evidence indicating rUN AT, a command that allows SIMs to execute legacy AT instructions and Container Administration Command (T1609) with moderate to high confidence (70%), supported by evidence indicating code execution on an Autel EV charger via a Quectel EC25-AFX modem. Under the Persistence tactic, the analysis identified Event Triggered Execution: Windows Management Instrumentation Event Subscription (T1546.003) with moderate confidence (60%), supported by evidence indicating proactive SIM functionality...lets SIMs issue commands to their host devices. Under the Privilege Escalation tactic, the analysis identified Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism: Setuid and Setgid (T1548.001) with moderate to high confidence (70%), supported by evidence indicating sIMs issue commands to their host devices (proactive SIM functionality). Under the Defense Evasion tactic, the analysis identified Impair Defenses: Disable or Modify Tools (T1562.001) with moderate to high confidence (80%), supported by evidence indicating force devices onto insecure 2G networks (downgrade resistant to standard fixes) and Valid Accounts: Default Accounts (T1078.001) with moderate confidence (60%), supported by evidence indicating exposed an AT command interface to the SIM (legacy modem commands). Under the Credential Access tactic, the analysis identified Adversary-in-the-Middle: LLMNR/NBT-NS Poisoning and SMB Relay (T1557.001) with moderate confidence (50%), supported by evidence indicating 2G network lock (potential for credential interception). Under the Discovery tactic, the analysis identified File and Directory Discovery (T1083) with moderate to high confidence (70%), supported by evidence indicating file theft from a Quectel EG25-G modem by combining malicious symbolic links. Under the Collection tactic, the analysis identified Data from Local System (T1005) with moderate to high confidence (80%), supported by evidence indicating file theft from a Quectel EG25-G modem. Under the Exfiltration tactic, the analysis identified Exfiltration Over C2 Channel (T1041) with moderate to high confidence (70%), supported by evidence indicating data exfiltration such as Yes (file theft demonstrated). Under the Impact tactic, the analysis identified Endpoint Denial of Service: Application or System Exploitation (T1499.004) with high confidence (90%), supported by evidence indicating denial-of-service attacks, including forcing an Oppo Reno14 F 5G to power down and Financial Theft (T1657) with lower confidence (40%), supported by evidence indicating potential for unauthorized transactions (IoT modems in financial devices). These correlations help security teams understand the attack chain and develop appropriate defensive measures based on the observed tactics and techniques.
Sources & References
- Quectel Rankiteo Cyber Incident Details: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/quectel-wireless-solutions/incident/SEMQUE1786444258
- Quectel CyberSecurity Rating page: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/quectel-wireless-solutions
- Quectel Rankiteo Cyber Incident Blog Article: https://blog.rankiteo.com/semque1786444258-quectel-semtech-vulnerability-may-2026/
- Quectel CyberSecurity Score History: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/quectel-wireless-solutions/history
- Quectel CyberSecurity Incident Source: https://www.theregister.com/security/2026/08/11/malicious-sims-can-shut-down-phones-steal-files-and-drag-5g-back-to-2g/5285482
- Rankiteo A.I CyberSecurity Rating methodology: https://www.rankiteo.com/Images/rankiteo_algo.pdf
- Rankiteo TPRM Scoring methodology: https://static.rankiteo.com/model/rankiteo_tprm_methodology.pdf