Hacking Hotspots: Pre-Auth Remote Code Execution, Arbitrary SMS & Adjacent Attacks on 5G and 4G/LTE Routers Edward "Actuator" Warren This research examines security oversights in modern 4G/5G routers used in small businesses, industrial IoT, and mobile deployments. Several routers contain weaknesses such as weak default credentials, inadequate authentication checks, and command injection pathways. Reverse-engineering and endpoint analysis enabled practical demonstrations of RCE, arbitrary SMS sending, and related exploitation on Tuoshi and KuWFi devices. Through examples including Burp Suite traffic and Ghidra disassembly, the talk highlights how these flaws can give attackers root access, enable fraudulent activity, or compromise entire networks. Recommended mitigations include hardened authentication, regular firmware updates, and proper segmentation. Link: https://defcon.org/html/defcon-33/dc-33-speakers.html#content_60370 https://github.com/actuator/DEFCON-33