Slashdot Mirror
Wi-Fi Router Attack Only Requires a Single PIN Guess
An anonymous reader writes: New research shows that wireless routers are still quite vulnerable to attack if they don't use a good implementation of Wi-Fi Protected Setup. Bad implementations do a poor job of randomizing the key used to authenticate hardware PINs. Because of this, the new attack only requires a single guess at the hardware PIN to collect data necessary to break it. After a few hours to process the data, an attacker can access the router's WPS functionality. Two major router manufacturers are affected: Broadcom, and a manufacturer to be named once they get around to fixing it. "Because many router manufacturers use the reference software implementation as the basis for their customized router software, the problems affected the final products, Bongard said. Broadcom's reference implementation had poor randomization, while the second vendor used a special seed, or nonce, of zero, essentially eliminating any randomness."
WiFi Protected Setup shouldn't be used anyways for security, especially since its problems have already been mentioned many times already in quite a few articles.
Is it just me that hates shit on my router?
- WPS (a.k.a. turn your massive password into a four-digit number): turned off on every router I've ever used, since day one of installation.
- UPnP (a.k.a. let anything open any port to anywhere without authentication): turned off on every router I've ever used, since day one of installation.
- WPA/WEP (a.k.a. half-arsed encryption that we never really thought through): turned off on every router I've ever used, since day one of installation.
- Guest networks (a.k.a. let random strangers use your Internet connection without you knowing): turned off on every router I've ever used, since day one of installation.
- Remote administration (a.k.a. let random strangers on the Internet sit and brute-force your passwords with no way to tell it's happening): turned off on every router I've ever used, since day one of installation.
And, in fact, on anything BUT my actual wireless router of choice (e.g. any Internet router supplied by my ISP):
- wireless (a.k.a. give people another way into my network and hinder all my other - wanted - wifi connections by flooding the airwaves): turned off on every router I've ever used, since day one of installation.
Seriously, people, just turn this shit off. And layer VPN over the top of it, if you can. Seriously. There's zero impact on always VPN'ing over your wireless connection to a machine that has a fixed line to your actual Internet connection. Then even if WPA2 is broken, you're still secure. And yes, you can game. I've done it with OpenVPN over my wireless for years - for EVERY packet - that goes over the wireless.
Wireless is the leaky, draughty hole of your network. Seal that fucker up and treat it like an Internet connection, even to your local network.
Nobody got paid. We call this responsible disclosure. Only thing is the Broadcom flaw was found before the second flaw and so they has a heads up.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R...
It can also protect profits to make sure that the announcement of the vulnerability smears all vendors and thus includes your competitors tools, not merely your own company's flawed products. This is called "sponsoring more research before publication". I'm afraid that it's a noticeable source of funding for security researchers, and can also buy valuable time to sell off as much of the flawed inventory as possible while or until the fix is provided for newer products.
I'm afraid that there are people who think this way, putting their short term corporate sales well before customer safety or product quality. And their ability to preserve profits, and to _hide their failures_, can often lead them to positions of great corporate power.
you can afford netflix and you're using my connection across the street? wtf?
Being able to afford Netflix ($120 per year) doesn't always imply being able to afford the inflated prices that cable providers charge for high-speed Internet access without a subscription to multichannel pay TV at the same address (often $700 or more per year).