Closing the Visibility Gap: A Monitoring Framework for Verifiable Open RAN Operations
Abstract
Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) is reshaping mobile network architecture by promoting openness, disaggregation, and cross-vendor interoperability. However, this architectural flexibility introduces new security challenges, especially in deployments where multiple mobile network operators (MNOs) jointly operate shared components. Existing Zero Trust Architectures (ZTA) in O-RAN, as defined by governmental and industry standards, implicitly assume that authenticated components will comply with operational policies. However, this assumption creates a critical blind spot: misconfigured or compromised components can silently violate policies, misuse resources, or corrupt downstream processes (e.g., ML-based RIC xApps). To address this critical gap, we propose a monitoring framework for low-trust O-RAN environments that proactively verifies configuration state and control behavior against tenant-defined policies. Our system provides scalable, verifiable oversight to enhance transparency and trust in O-RAN operations. We implement and evaluate the framework using standardized O-RAN configurations, with total processing latency of approximately 200 ms, demonstrating its efficiency and practicality for timely policy enforcement and compliance auditing in multi-MNO deployments.