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Main Authors: Yahia, Selma, Alla, Ildi, Mohan, Girija Bangalore, Rau, Daniel, Singh, Mridula, Loscri, Valeria
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.17253
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author Yahia, Selma
Alla, Ildi
Mohan, Girija Bangalore
Rau, Daniel
Singh, Mridula
Loscri, Valeria
author_facet Yahia, Selma
Alla, Ildi
Mohan, Girija Bangalore
Rau, Daniel
Singh, Mridula
Loscri, Valeria
contents Autonomous vehicles (AVs) rely heavily on LiDAR sensors for accurate 3D perception. We show a novel class of low-cost, passive LiDAR spoofing attacks that exploit mirror-like surfaces to inject or remove objects from an AV's perception. Using planar mirrors to redirect LiDAR beams, these attacks require no electronics or custom fabrication and can be deployed in real settings. We define two adversarial goals: Object Addition Attacks (OAA), which create phantom obstacles, and Object Removal Attacks (ORA), which conceal real hazards. We develop geometric optics models, validate them with controlled outdoor experiments using a commercial LiDAR and an Autoware-equipped vehicle, and implement a CARLA-based simulation for scalable testing. Experiments show mirror attacks corrupt occupancy grids, induce false detections, and trigger unsafe planning and control behaviors. We discuss potential defenses (thermal sensing, multi-sensor fusion, light-fingerprinting) and their limitations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_17253
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Seeing is Deceiving: Mirror-Based LiDAR Spoofing for Autonomous Vehicle Deception
Yahia, Selma
Alla, Ildi
Mohan, Girija Bangalore
Rau, Daniel
Singh, Mridula
Loscri, Valeria
Cryptography and Security
Autonomous vehicles (AVs) rely heavily on LiDAR sensors for accurate 3D perception. We show a novel class of low-cost, passive LiDAR spoofing attacks that exploit mirror-like surfaces to inject or remove objects from an AV's perception. Using planar mirrors to redirect LiDAR beams, these attacks require no electronics or custom fabrication and can be deployed in real settings. We define two adversarial goals: Object Addition Attacks (OAA), which create phantom obstacles, and Object Removal Attacks (ORA), which conceal real hazards. We develop geometric optics models, validate them with controlled outdoor experiments using a commercial LiDAR and an Autoware-equipped vehicle, and implement a CARLA-based simulation for scalable testing. Experiments show mirror attacks corrupt occupancy grids, induce false detections, and trigger unsafe planning and control behaviors. We discuss potential defenses (thermal sensing, multi-sensor fusion, light-fingerprinting) and their limitations.
title Seeing is Deceiving: Mirror-Based LiDAR Spoofing for Autonomous Vehicle Deception
topic Cryptography and Security
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.17253