Is it possible to detect the real location of an IMSI catcher?

Question

As already known, IMSI-catcher is “is a telephone eavesdropping device used for intercepting mobile phone traffic and tracking location data of mobile phone user”.

When the user registers to this fake base station, it (usually) answers with a fake location.

Can it be located nevertheless? i.E. does any device exist to do that, or is it possible to identify the real location by using some specialized software?

Answer 1

The SeaGlass researchers aim to find the location of IMSI-catchers via anomaly detection at a city scale: https://seaglass.cs.washington.edu/ .

To identify potential IMSI-catchers, they rely on four anomalies:

1. Reporting to be at a fake location (as you mentioned)
2. Broadcasting at unusual channels
3. Supporting different features from regular towers
4. Constantly moving or turning on and off

To answer your question: you may be able to detect it easily, but finding the location may require triangulation.

Answer 2

In addition to @crypto's answer,

if you can determine a specific transmission is from a suspected catcher, a fox hunt rig would be able to provide direction, and two of those measurements can provide a pretty small search area.