WPA Weak Key Cracker Posted 168
Glenn Fleishman writes "The folks at TinyPEAP released a cracking tool to break Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) keys. WPA is the replacement for weak WEP keys in the original 802.11b specification. Robert Moskowitz of ICSA Labs released a paper almost exactly a year ago documenting how WPA keys that were short and lacked randomnness could be subject to cracks. This tool automates the process. Moskowitz advised choosing passphrases of more than 20 characters or generating random keys of at least 96 bits, but preferably 128 bits. Some tools exist to produce better keys, including chipmaker Broadcom's SecureEZSetup (in selected hardware) and Buffalo Technologies' hardware-based AOSS for automatic key generation and propagation. Enterprise-based WPA with 802.1X doesn't have this weakness: each user gets a long WPA key that's randomly generated and uniquely assigned--and can be frequently changed during a session."
By its nature... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:By its nature... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:By its nature... (Score:5, Insightful)
When it becomes possible to conveniently crack SSH tunnels, I'll start to worry. By then, I'm sure there will be something better available. Meanwhile, you can sniff those ESP packets to your heart's content.
This is trivial under Linux, and not much more difficult under Winblows (clients), and I'm surprised more people don't suggest it as an alternative to WEP/WPA.
(My girlfriend uses Winblows w/ SSH Sentinel, and has only had one problem that rebooting wouldn't fix - in over 3 years. That one? Installing XP / SP2 turns on the [useless] firewall, which blocks the ports needed by the VPN.)
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Re:By its nature... (Score:1, Insightful)
Installing XP / SP2 turns on the [useless] firewall, which blocks the ports needed by the VPN.)
That's what firewalls do...they block ports. Be they SP2 or some other variation this has nothing to do with the design of Microsoft's firewall and everything to do with the concept of firewalls.
But since you've called Windows "Winblows" and labelled te firewall useless it's obvious you're lacking sufficient knowledge to know why the problem occured.
Re:By its nature... (Score:3, Interesting)
As for not knowing what happened, it took me about 10 seconds to solve the problem. And, in fact, DID require a reboot, but then again, that's Winblows.
As for lacking sufficient knowledge of firewalls, you're welcome to try and hack mine. It's bee
Re:By its nature... (Score:2, Funny)
Put your money where your mouth is and post your IP on
Re:By its nature... (Score:2)
Re:By its nature... (Score:2)
And heck, I never even once typed Windoze instead.
Re:By its nature... (Score:2)
Also, how good is your w32 software on picking session keys? host keys?
Not saying you're insecure, just that you didn't mention basic 101 stuff about it. And ssh implementations on w32 are rumored to be all weak.
Re:By its nature... (Score:2)
Re:By its nature... (Score:3, Insightful)
Plus how good is your OS at getting entropy? What symmetric encryption algorithm? What key exchange algorithm?
And about ssh over vpn... a friend (known player @ crypto) told me once that you should never assume that re-encrypting would improve security, unless you are using a well known and tested method of mixing both encryption systems.
Intention of this post is not bitching, but to try to make ppl aware it's not just "i use XXX, so im safe", but a very co
Re:By its nature... (Score:3, Interesting)
Regarding SSH over VPN, I don't do it for added security, and am familiar with at least some of the dangers multiple encryption layers can present. I do it because when the laptop is wireless, it CAN'T talk to anything without the VPN -- and there is no command line access to any of my b
Re:By its nature... (Score:1, Informative)
and im fairly certian it won't be compromised any time in the near future
--kingpunk
Re:By its nature... (Score:2, Informative)
Maybe you are talking about a specific implementation here (Linux I bet) and detaisl are sightly different between different unix like systems...
The basic issue is that as soon as you think up a process that generates numbers in a way that you can describe mathematically, you also end up with a process uncapable of generating real randomness.
You can get m
Re:By its nature... (Score:3, Informative)
On Linux, that's wrong.
You're correct about everything
Re:By its nature... (Score:2, Interesting)
Blahblahblah.
1. the point of my post was to point out that you should verify that your random gener
Re:By its nature... (Score:2)
> random generator. The generator itself however is still pseudo random.
I think a pseudo-random generator continuously re-seeded with true randomness will produce truly random output, not pseudo-random output. Running true randomness through a good mixing function shouldn't destroy it, and neither should taking hashes of parts of the entropy pool.
Cryptographic strength is all about predictability, but for simulations
Re:By its nature... (Score:1)
LK
Re:By its nature... (Score:2)
It's a shame; it makes it MUCH easier to do IPSec than the built-in XP VPN feature. (Their connector product looks comparable, but I really don't know anything about it.)
Re:By its nature... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:By its nature... (Score:1)
Re:By its nature... (Score:2, Interesting)
I t
Re:By its nature... (Score:2)
The main thing holding me back atm is the lack of a PocketPC or Zaurus client (the latter's easier to deal with, but don't mistake me for someone who isn't lazy); IPSec would be better in that regard, if I could be bothered learning how to set it up.
Enterprise mode (Radius-authenticated) WPA seems interesting too, but every Radius server I've seen seems hideously overcomplex for just a little home WLAN.
Re:By its nature... (Score:2)
Re:By its nature... (Score:2)
Why in ANYONE's name would I be running nPnP?
In case anyone is wondering, I've done SysAdmin work in real environments since the early 90s, and spent many years prior to that breaking mainframe/mini/micro security from the programmer side. Securing a couple modest home networ
Re:By its nature... (Score:5, Insightful)
I guess that's an understandable misconception about security. But security has by nature nothing to do with wireless or wired.
Good security is based on the principle that other people WILL have access to your encrypted data.
Unfortunately, the people that implemented security in the wireless protocols did a piss-poor job and left it vulnerable to (known!) attacks.
However, if you just ran IPSec or something over your wireless connection, you'd be fine.
Re:By its nature... (Score:1, Insightful)
Real security makes it really hard to use the captured data without the key, which should never be transmitted cleartext.
Just name all your specific MAC addresses (Score:2, Informative)
How many home networks really need to allow random MAC addresses access?
Re:Just name all your specific MAC addresses (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Just name all your specific MAC addresses (Score:5, Insightful)
How many home users know what a MAC address is?
Re:Just name all your specific MAC addresses (Score:2, Funny)
Let me guess...
Re:Just name all your specific MAC addresses (Score:5, Insightful)
Know Thine Adversary (Score:2)
You're assuming your adversary is a determined attacker, not your neighbor who's too lazy/clueless to choose his access point in his laptop's configuration utility. MAC filtering works perfectly well in this case.
Ok, MAC spoofing seems "trivial"... (Score:2, Flamebait)
Point taken - I won't put anything important on my wireless access, but then again, I am about as likely to have someone out here care about spoofing me as I am to have some gang-bangers drive the 50 miles to my "hood" and rough me up.
Computers are becoming more like regular life - assume someone will someday see what is on your computer, just like your are probably being watched by security/traffic cameras all the time.
heh, "play nice", even when you think no one is wat
Re:Ok, MAC spoofing seems "trivial"... (Score:2)
I haven't had dinner yet, but I will probably just have fast food - since I have been painting (non-artistic) all day and noone feels like cooking.
I always were white socks, like all geeks, and am therefore puzzled about the black stuff I pick from under my toenails, since... well duh.
I am not thinking much right now, since I've knocked back a few - perfect for making slashdot toasts, erm, I mean posts.
Basically "playing nice" means being honest - if you like porn, by all means have it on your co
Re:By its nature... (Score:3, Insightful)
Your wired network can't be too secure either. All that you need to do is attach a listening device to a wire somewhere. Or just compromise a machine.
See the sibling post about how the basis of cryptography is asuming that someone has access to your encrypted data and the encryption algorithm. All security rests in the key. Crypt
Asside: WEP = Wired Equivalency Protocol (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:By its nature... (Score:2)
And that's good enough reason to not use it for anything important.
This is why (Score:5, Funny)
Next i'll observe when I secretly host a wifi network near starbucks and replace everything with a small mirror of www.khaaan.com [khaaan.com].
Re:This is why (Score:1, Offtopic)
Re:This is why (Score:4, Funny)
I don't know, hearing 20 laptops or so yelling "Khaaan! Khaaan!" I think is scarier than a penis bisection.
Better colours (Score:3, Interesting)
Odds of implementation? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Odds of implementation? (Score:3, Informative)
Er, you mean WPA?
Re:Odds of implementation? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Odds of implementation? (Score:3, Interesting)
Sadly, who needs to break into anything when so many leave their front doors wide open? I just moved into a new appartment complex. While waiting for my cable to get turned on, I thought I'd scan for networks, just for the hell of it. F'ing amazing: five APs detected, one WEP (not WAP)
Re:Odds of implementation? (Score:3, Funny)
1. Put up an ad in the mailroom for computer and network service in apartment number
2. A week later, start enabling WEP on the open routers.
3. Residents go ?????.
4. PROFIT!!
(Who knew this
So it's just a bruteforce/dictionary tool... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:So it's just a bruteforce/dictionary tool... (Score:2)
WPA (with AES, preferably) is a lot harder as it's designed so you can't go that way around.. you have to bruteforce.
A 128 bit key is only 16 characters (you *do* use non-ASCII in your keys I assume?). I usually try to go to at least double that.
Re:So it's just a bruteforce/dictionary tool... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:So it's just a bruteforce/dictionary tool... (Score:1)
I'm all for this. (Score:5, Funny)
no good excuse (Score:3, Interesting)
Kind of funny. I have our wireless router locked down with a 128bit key and only accepting connections from mine and my roommates' MAC addresses. But one of my neighbors has a wide open access point that I can connect to whenever I wan't.
I don't really want to, but I could.
No real point to this post except that you should attempt even minimal security (Unlike my neighbor).
Re:no good excuse (Score:1, Funny)
"Pardon me, mind if I use your wireless connection so I can download porn and masturbate all night long?"
In addition to a cracker (Score:5, Interesting)
Would have made the crack software look a little less black-hat, to the uninitiated.
Just an idea.
Re:In addition to a cracker (Score:2)
Getting raw packets etc, is not something everybody knows how to do, but it would be great if they could verify their key was fine.
(and then that software could send the key back to the original web-site, so they can keep a list of fine keys that are now known, so they are not fine anymore. Yeah yeah, I know...
don't blame WPA (Score:5, Insightful)
Btw: The Tips and Tricks section of this newsletter [slashdot.org] is a good ressource if you want to create passes which are harder to guess.
Re:don't blame WPA (Score:3, Informative)
Here's the a correct link [gentoo.org]
Re:don't blame WPA (Score:1)
Re:don't blame WPA (Score:2)
Re:don't blame WPA (Score:2)
My passes (coming from
IMO that's a convenient tradeoff between remembering them all (impossible) and having them on notes (insecure).
Ho hum (Score:3, Interesting)
Treat wireless just like you do a student network and everything will be fine.
Re:Ho hum (Score:3, Informative)
Note that WPA is just like WEP but with quickly rotating keys and more secure key exchange. Yeah, you can't crack it in real-time to get on the network... but if you listen to the vendors carefully, they'll even say it... "Authentication, Authorization.... " But never will they formally say "Secure encryption of data"
You can decode everything but the key exchange off-line.
VPN software is the only way to go. The wireless vendors are liars.
Does anyone want to comment on WPA2? Does it require new har
D-Link Software generates 60-digit pass keys. (Score:1, Flamebait)
D-Link's install software for the AirPlusXtremeG WiFi adapters generates a 60 digit random hexadecimal number for use as a pre-shared key.
The Daily Mirror is one of the United Kingdom's largest newspapers. Here is their front page on the day after the election (PDF file): Daily Mirror Front Page: How could 59,054,087 people be so dumb? [icnetwork.co.uk].
Correction: 64 4-bit hexadecimal keys (Score:2)
Correction: 64 4-bit hexadecimal keys, for 256 bits total. According to the article, not breakable.
Re:D-Link Software generates 60-digit pass keys. (Score:2)
You are just ignorant.
Suggestion (Score:3, Interesting)
So, I know it's not foolproof, but does anyone have suggestions on how to increase wireless security?
1. Regularly change WEP keys?
2. Use a proxy server to access internet, and disable direct access via access point?
3. Turn off router and computers when you're not using them?
Any others?
Re:Suggestion (Score:1)
Re:Suggestion (Score:3, Informative)
Of course if
Re:Suggestion (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, there are different schools of thought when it comes to SoHo/low bandwidth WAN access security.
You are attempting to lock your network down so that a potential attacker cannot use your connection. The other approach lock your network down just enough to make a cracker not want to bother and to move on to the next, easier target (ie. your neighbors' access points).
The former approach generally works just fine if your goal is to deny a potential attacker access to your network bandwidth. It won't really stop a determined attacker who isn't just in it for a free-ride but who wants to steal specific data. If that's part of your threat model, chances are wireless isn't really for you. The downside is that this is pretty inconvenient. And since convenience is the big selling point when it comes to wireless networking, most people just won't take that route.
Those people who have WEP and MAC address filtering enabled, basically want to protect themselves against random, unsophisticated wardriving. It won't help defend against a determined attacker and probably won't even scare off the teenager next door with too much time on his hands. The point isn't really to have good access security. It's just to raise the bar enough to be unatractive enough of a target. Think of it as a "I don't have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you" scenario.
Re:Suggestion (Score:2)
Re:Suggestion (Score:2)
My home firewall is an OpenBSD [openbsd.org] box that is my access point as well. I use IPSec [openbsd.org] to setup VPN [openbsd.org] to secure my wireless network. Only authenticated IPSec traffic is permitted, so all a war driver can do is to DoS my wireless network.
If setting up IPSec is too much work, one can use OpenVPN [sourceforge.net] that has a Windows client as well.
If you just want to prevent unauthorized usage of your wireless network, you can au
record now crack later (Score:1)
What is Slashdot coming too? (Score:2, Funny)
Wired security vs. wireless security (Score:2)
Anything confidential needs to be encrypted with VPN, SSL, or something similar. Period.
Sure you can turn WEP or WAP on...but don't stake all your data on it. Use what's tested and trusted by the rest.
Re:Wired security vs. wireless security (Score:2)
I'm just messing with you, I know you meant larger enviroments.
What about unsecured networks? (Score:4, Funny)
What are "short" WPA keys supposed to be? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:What are "short" WPA keys supposed to be? (Score:2, Interesting)
WEPs main problem is that the space from which IVs can be chosen is much too small. That, combined with a user supplied key which is directly used for encryption instead of just securing the exchange of random keys, means
Re:What are "short" WPA keys supposed to be? (Score:3, Insightful)
1. All WEP keys are susceptible to nearly the same degree of being broken by collecting enough data passively. Thus, they are all weak. From a definition of weak keys at an online dictionary: "In the extreme, a poor cipher design is simply one with a very large number of weak keys."
2. No, you're misreading this, too. Moskowitz (see his paper) is talking about the seed data, not the resulting way in w
WPA er Old News! (Score:3, Informative)
Re:What Morons (Score:2, Informative)
Re:What Morons (Score:2, Informative)
Re:What Morons (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:What Morons (Score:4, Informative)
_YOUR_ wlan card may have the MAC address burned into it. Once ALL NIC did. I think it was more than 10 years ago that I saw my first NIC that DID NOT HAVE a MAC address (it was all zeroes, and expected to be set in software).
_MY_ wlan card will _CERTAINLY_ let me change the MAC address - under Linux _or_ Windows.
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Re:What Morons (Score:1, Troll)
Re:What Morons (Score:2)
You can change the MAC address via software in the NIC driver, but that doesn't physically change the hardware MAC, it simply changes what the driver reports the MAC address as being.
Am I wrong here?
Re:What Morons (Score:2)
ifconfig wlan0 hw ether [mac address]
In Windows, there is a nice program called Mac Makeup [gorlani.com] to do it for you.
Both of these methods do work for wireless cards. I tested it fairly extensively when I setup my own wifi network.
Re:What Morons (Score:2)
The other poster sowed how easy it is to do this in Linux.
Re:What Morons (Score:1, Funny)
and while yes this is a troll.. its not a pure troll.. had you posted only your first post then replied to the replies with something like "oh i wasn't aware of that, sorry, i guess i was wrong"... then you'd be fine.. but you keep replying saying yo
Re:What Morons (Score:1)
Re:What Morons (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:What Morons (Score:4, Informative)
It's just that they cannot be authenticated in any way. It's like allowing only people who claim to be you on your network, rather than people who can prove it in some way.
Re:What Morons (Score:2)
Now, where do I pickup my monkey?
Re:What Morons (Score:1)
Re:What Morons (Score:4, Informative)
No, you don't have to do this. Once the WEP key is broken (or if there is no WEP key, just MAC filtering), you simply listen to the traffic to get a MAC address that's allowed, and use that.
Regards,
--
*Art
Re:What Morons (Score:2, Informative)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:What Morons (Score:2)
This is a *trivial* exercise, and certainly does not require any hard-wiring.
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Re:WPA Keys (Score:3, Informative)
Do your homework. Look up Supplicant, XSupplication, HostAP, 802.11i for Linux, 802.1x for Linux, etc, etc, etc... Lots of things going on.
ITMT... This crack is only for weak keys with WPA-PSK. Not applicable to WPA enterprise or WPA2.