Wi-Fi Protected Setup PIN Brute Force Vulnerability

H

HardOCP News

[H] News
Joined
Dec 31, 1969
Messages
0
A researcher has discovered a security hole in WPS technology that affects millions of Wi-Fi routers around the world.

A few weeks ago I decided to take a look at the Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) technology. I noticed a few really bad design decisions which enable an efficient brute force attack, thus effectively breaking the security of pretty much all WPS-enabled Wi-Fi routers. As all of the more recent router models come with WPS enabled by default, this affects millions of devices worldwide.
Click to expand...
 
After the identification of the device's capabilities on both ends, a human trigger is to initiate the actual session of the protocol.

Reality check! The hacker listens from somewhere in the AP area for the unsuspecting network user to press the connect WPS button several hundred times.

This needs prompt attention? Yeah, sure. We'll get right back to you on that.
 
luigi2000 said:
After the identification of the device's capabilities on both ends, a human trigger is to initiate the actual session of the protocol.

Reality check! The hacker listens from somewhere in the AP area for the unsuspecting network user to press the connect WPS button several hundred times.

This needs prompt attention? Yeah, sure. We'll get right back to you on that.
Click to expand...

Which part of "External PIN" made you think "Push Button Connect"?
 
I'm no security guru but it seems that very often attempts to make security simpler end up having holes in them. For that reason I've always disabled WPS on my routers. I don't think anyone running in a secure environment would have it turned on.
 
heatlesssun said:
I'm no security guru but it seems that very often attempts to make security simpler end up having holes in them. For that reason I've always disabled WPS on my routers. I don't think anyone running in a secure environment would have it turned on.
Click to expand...

Yeah, don't know why this is a story. By design WPS is insecure. BUT, it is enabled by default on a number of routers so I guess 75% of users won't know to disable it. Just have to shake your head when you see that.
 
luigi2000 said:
After the identification of the device's capabilities on both ends, a human trigger is to initiate the actual session of the protocol.

Reality check! The hacker listens from somewhere in the AP area for the unsuspecting network user to press the connect WPS button several hundred times.

This needs prompt attention? Yeah, sure. We'll get right back to you on that.
Click to expand...

I think the point is that some of these routers don't need a human trigger and are always accepting input (probably not by design but the guy found a way around it).
 
I imagine this being added to the next release Backtrack so all you white hats can test your own router...
 
I don't have the wireless for my router turned on, also my router only has the "push to connect" WPS. How's that for good security :p
 
Disable WPS, manually type in a SSID and WPA2 keyphrase. Problem solved.
 
hawk82 said:
Disable WPS, manually type in a SSID and WPA2 keyphrase. Problem solved.
Click to expand...
This is really the correct answer. I do a slight variation though in that I find a PSK generator online to get a 63 character PSK that will be very hard to crack. I use cut and paste to put it in the router, and also save it to a text file. The text file is on a flash drive so no typing for me when I want to add devices to the network. I also have better security as long as the flash drive doesn't get lost.
 
So it seems that this is really only a problem for those who pull it directly out the box and plug it in letting it work?

Hopefully he releases the code soon, i'd like to peek around my neighborhood :D
 
pgaster said:
This is really the correct answer. I do a slight variation though in that I find a PSK generator online to get a 63 character PSK that will be very hard to crack. I use cut and paste to put it in the router, and also save it to a text file. The text file is on a flash drive so no typing for me when I want to add devices to the network. I also have better security as long as the flash drive doesn't get lost.
Click to expand...

Well and typing in the key (full of special characters probably) on a phone would be a pain in the ass.
 
bh192012 said:
Well and typing in the key (full of special characters probably) on a phone would be a pain in the ass.
Click to expand...

a problem i'm having on my phone after setting everything up in lastpass.

then: "oh you allow 255 character passwords? here's 255 with high entropy."
now: "f7u12 this is going to take 10 minutes to type in"
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top