Evaluation of Jamming Attacks on NR-V2X Systems: Simulation and Experimental Perspectives

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are transforming transportation by improving safety, efficiency, and intelligence through integrated sensing, computing, and communication technologies. However, their growing reliance on Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication exposes them to cybersecurity vulnerabilities, particularly at the physical layer. Among these, jamming attacks represent a critical threat by disrupting wireless channels and compromising message delivery, severely impacting vehicle coordination and safety. This work investigates the robustness of New Radio (NR)-V2X-enabled vehicular systems under jamming conditions through a dual-methodology approach. First, two Cooperative Intelligent Transport System (C-ITS) scenarios standardized by 3GPP—Do Not Pass Warning (DNPW) and Intersection Movement Assist (IMA)—are implemented in the OMNeT++ simulation environment using Simu5G, Veins, and SUMO. The simulations incorporate four types of jamming strategies and evaluate their impact on key metrics such as packet loss, signal quality, inter-vehicle spacing, and collision risk. Second, a complementary laboratory experiment is conducted using AnaPico vector signal generators (a Keysight Technologies brand) and an Anritsu multi-channel spectrum receiver, replicating controlled wireless conditions to validate the degradation effects observed in the simulation. The findings reveal that jamming severely undermines communication reliability in NR-V2X systems, both in simulation and in practice. These findings highlight the urgent need for resilient NR-V2X protocols and countermeasures to ensure the integrity of cooperative autonomous systems in adversarial environments.