ICSim - IoV / CAN Bus Security Lab

A hands-on Internet-of-Vehicles security lab built around the Instrument Cluster Simulator (ICSim). It pairs an intentionally vulnerable CAN simulator with a secured build so the same attacks can be run against both and the difference observed directly.

The project bundles:

Component	Path	What it is
Vulnerable simulator	src/sim_src/	The attack target - pristine upstream ICSim / Barbhack fork (see Attribution).
Secured simulator	src/secured_sim_src/	Same simulator hardened with SecOC message authentication (AES-128-CMAC) and UDS hardening. See src/secured_sim_src/SECURITY.md.
CAN injection tool	scripts/automation-scripts/	Interactive attacker tooling: frame injection, UDS client, SecurityAccess / RoutineControl scanners.
Web lab	web/	Static guided lab (no backend).
Setup / packaging	_set/	Host setup script and Docker workshop image build. Note: kept local-only (git-ignored via _*), so it is not present in a fresh clone.

Quick start

# 1. Bring up a virtual CAN interface
cd src/secured_sim_src/CAN
sudo ./setup_vcan.sh                  # creates vcan0

# 2. Build (needs SDL2, SDL2_image, libssl-dev, can-utils)
make                                  # -> ./icsim and ./controls

# 3. Run, in two terminals
./icsim vcan0                         # the instrument cluster
./controls vcan0                      # the control panel

The vulnerable build (src/sim_src/CAN) builds and runs the same way, without the -lcrypto dependency.

License

This project is licensed under the GNU GPL v3.0. See LICENSE.

This repository is distributed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later (LICENSE), consistent with its GPL-licensed upstream components.

• Original work in this repository - the SecOC security layer, the UDS hardening, the CAN injection tooling, the IDS, the web lab and the setup / packaging - is Copyright (c) 2026 Xpert and licensed GPL-3.0-or-later.
• It incorporates and redistributes GPL-licensed upstream code; see Attribution below and THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.

If you redistribute this project (source or binaries), you must meet the GPL obligations, including providing corresponding source and preserving all copyright and license notices.

Attribution

The simulator is derived from ICSim, originally by Craig Smith / Open Garages, via the Barbhack "CH-Workshop" fork by phil-eqtech:

• ICSim (upstream): https://github.com/zombieCraig/ICSim - © 2014 Open Garages, Craig Smith. Original (c) notices are preserved in the source headers.
• Barbhack CH-Workshop fork (new GUI, UDS, challenges, art): phil-eqtech.

src/sim_src/ is kept as the unmodified upstream reference. src/secured_sim_src/ is a derivative of it; the modifications are documented in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md and src/secured_sim_src/SECURITY.md.

Warranty

This project is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind, to the extent permitted by applicable law. It is intended for education and authorized security testing only.