Wireless attacks, A to Z

Wireless Security Lunchtime Learning Return to Lesson 1: How to counter wireless threats and vulnerabilities Read the next tip: Wi-Fi vulnerability assessment checklist Return to Wireless Security Lunchtime Learning

Access control attacks
These attacks attempt to penetrate a network by using wireless or evading WLAN access control measures, like AP MAC filters and 802.1X port access controls.

Type of Attack	Description	Methods and Tools
War Driving	Discovering wireless LANs by listening to beacons or sending probe requests, thereby providing launch point for further attacks.	DStumbler, KisMAC, MacStumbler, NetStumbler, WaveStumbler, Wellenreiter
Rogue Access Points	Installing an unsecured AP inside firewall, creating open backdoor into trusted network.	Any hardware or software AP
Ad Hoc Associations	Connecting directly to an unsecured station to circumvent AP security or to attack station.	Any wireless card or USB adapter
MAC Spoofing	Reconfiguring an attacker's MAC address to pose as an authorized AP or station.	Bwmachak, changemac.sh, SirMACsAlot, SMAC, Wellenreiter, wicontrol
802.1X RADIUS Cracking	Recovering RADIUS secret by brute force from 802.1X access request, for use by evil twin AP.	Packet capture tool on LAN or network path between AP and RADIUS server

Confidentiality attacks
These attacks attempt to intercept private information sent over wireless associations, whether sent in the clear or encrypted by 802.11 or higher layer protocols.

Type of Attack	Description	Methods and Tools
Eavesdropping	Capturing and decoding unprotected application traffic to obtain potentially sensitive information.	bsd-airtools, Ethereal, Ettercap, Kismet, commercial analyzers
WEP Key Cracking	Capturing data to recover a WEP key using brute force or Fluhrer-Mantin-Shamir (FMS) cryptanalysis.	Aircrack, AirSnort, chopchop, dwepcrack, WepAttack, WepDecrypt, WepLab
Evil Twin AP	Masquerading as an authorized AP by beaconing the WLAN's service set identifier (SSID) to lure users.	cqureAP, HermesAP, HostAP, OpenAP, Quetec, WifiBSD
AP Phishing	Running a phony portal or Web server on an evil twin AP to "phish" for user logins, credit card numbers.	Airsnarf, Hotspotter
Man in the Middle	Running traditional man-in-the-middle attack tools on an evil twin AP to intercept TCP sessions or SSL/SSH tunnels.	dsniff, Ettercap

Integrity attacks
These attacks send forged control, management or data frames over wireless to mislead the recipient or facilitate another type of attack (e.g., DoS).

Type of Attack	Description	Methods and Tools
802.11 Frame Injection	Crafting and sending forged 802.11 frames.	Airpwn, File2air, libradiate, void11, WEPWedgie, wnet dinject/reinject
802.11 Data Replay	Capturing 802.11 data frames for later (modified) replay.	Capture + Injection Tools
802.11 Data Deletion	Jamming an intended receiver to prevent delivery while simultaneously spoofing ACKs for deleted data frames.	Jamming + Injection Tools
802.1X EAP Replay	Capturing 802.1X Extensible Authentication Protocols (e.g., EAP Identity, Success, Failure) for later replay.	Wireless Capture + Injection Tools between station and AP
802.1X RADIUS Replay	Capturing RADIUS Access-Accept or Reject messages for later replay.	Ethernet Capture + Injection Tools between AP and authentication server

Authentication attacks
Intruders use these attacks to steal legitimate user identities and credentials to access otherwise private networks and services.

Type of Attack	Description	Methods and Tools
Shared Key Guessing	Attempting 802.11 Shared Key Authentication with guessed, vendor default or cracked WEP keys.	WEP Cracking Tools
PSK Cracking	Recovering a WPA PSK from captured key handshake frames using a dictionary attack tool.	coWPAtty, KisMAC, wpa_crack, wpa-psk-bf
Application Login Theft	Capturing user credentials (e.g., e-mail address and password) from cleartext application protocols.	Ace Password Sniffer, Dsniff, PHoss, WinSniffer
Domain Login Cracking	Recovering user credentials (e.g., Windows login and password) by cracking NetBIOS password hashes, using a brute-force or dictionary attack tool.	John the Ripper, L0phtCrack, Cain
VPN Login Cracking	Recovering user credentials (e.g., PPTP password or IPsec Preshared Secret Key) by running brute-force attacks on VPN authentication protocols.	ike_scan and ike_crack (IPsec), anger and THC-pptp-bruter (PPTP)
802.1X Identity Theft	Capturing user identities from cleartext 802.1X Identity Response packets.	Capture Tools
802.1X Password Guessing	Using a captured identity, repeatedly attempting 802.1X authentication to guess the user's password.	Password Dictionary
802.1X LEAP Cracking	Recovering user credentials from captured 802.1X Lightweight EAP (LEAP) packets using a dictionary attack tool to crack the NT password hash.	Anwrap, Asleap, THC-LEAPcracker
802.1X EAP Downgrade	Forcing an 802.1X server to offer a weaker type of authentication using forged EAP-Response/Nak packets.	File2air, libradiate

Availability attacks
These attacks impede delivery of wireless services to legitimate users, either by denying them access to WLAN resources or by crippling those resources.

Type of Attack	Description	Methods and Tools
AP Theft	Physically removing an AP from a public space.	"Five finger discount"
RF Jamming	Transmitting at the same frequency as the target WLAN, perhaps at a power that exceeds regulation Equivalent Isotopically Radiated Power (EIRP).	RF Jammer, Microwave oven, AP with Alchemy/HyperWRT firmware
Queensland DoS	Exploiting the CSMA/CA Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) mechanism to make a channel appear busy.	An adapter that supports CW Tx mode, with a low-level utility to invoke continuous transmit
802.11 Beacon Flood	Generating thousands of counterfeit 802.11 beacons to make it hard for stations to find a legitimate AP.	FakeAP
802.11 Associate / Authenticate Flood	Sending forged Authenticates or Associates from random MACs to fill a target AP's association table.	Airjack, File2air, Macfld, void11
802.11 TKIP MIC Exploit	Generating invalid TKIP data to exceed the target AP's MIC error threshold, suspending WLAN service.	File2air, wnet dinject
802.11 Deauthenticate Flood	Flooding station(s) with forged Deauthenticates or Disassociates to disconnecting users from an AP.	Airjack, Omerta, void11
802.1X EAP-Start Flood	Flooding an AP with EAP-Start messages to consume resources or crash the target.	QACafe, File2air, libradiate
802.1X EAP-Failure	Observing a valid 802.1X EAP exchange, and then sending the station a forged EAP-Failure message.	QACafe, File2air, libradiate
802.1X EAP-of-Death	Sending a malformed 802.1X EAP Identity response known to cause some APs to crash.	QACafe, File2air, libradiate
802.1X EAP Length Attacks	Sending EAP type-specific messages with bad length fields to try to crash an AP or RADIUS server.	QACafe, File2air, libradiate

Note: Many of these tools can be found in the Auditor Security Collection, a KNOPPIX-based toolkit intended for use during penetration testing and vulnerability assessment.

>> Move to the next tip: Wi-Fi vulnerability assessment checklist

Digg This!     StumbleUpon     Del.icio.us

RELATED CONTENT Network Security Monitoring Network forensics appliance gets storage boost and 10 GbE support Tracking NetFlow over MPLS helps airline with compliance Securing the new network architecture: Security for distributed, dynamic networks When it comes to data loss prevention, networking should be part of the conversation What is data loss prevention? -- An introduction to DLP What are the best methods for handling rogue access points? Internet monitoring vendor adds throttling, filtering, to its appliance How to interpret test scan results to assess network vulnerability Endpoint security locks down law firm's network Can a broadband network installer compromise your network security? Wireless Network Security Wireless LANs -- 'CCNA Official Exam Certification Library, Third Edition,' Chapter 11 Book of Wireless author on wireless advantages and issues Buying your own WAPs vs. Internet service provider's wireless routers Aruba Networks unveils wireless intrusion prevention enhancements, other security upgrades, at Interop Is my firewall setting preventing wireless network guest access? Wireless hot spot security -- podcast Wireless troubleshooting: AP not reestablishing association after loss of connectivity Wireless security protocols -- How WPA and WPA2 work Wireless security -- How WEP encryption works Will WPA2-PSK keep wireless networks safe from war drivers? Wireless threats and vulnerabilities Fighting wireless DoS attacks Wi-Fi vulnerability assessment checklist Risky business: Understanding Wi-Fi threats Burton: WLANs safe for everyone Network Security First-step: Wireless threats Wi-Fi Security - Chapter 4 802.11 Security: Attacks and risks

RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary deep packet inspection (DPI)  (SearchNetworking.com) FCAPS  (SearchNetworking.com) Nessus  (SearchNetworking.com) netstat  (SearchNetworking.com) port mirroring  (SearchNetworking.com)

RELATED RESOURCES 2020software.com, trial software downloads for accounting software, ERP software, CRM software and business software systems Search Bitpipe.com for the latest white papers and business webcasts Whatis.com, the online computer dictionary