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Additionally, depending on the device being used and the network setup, it is also possible to decrypt data sent towards the victim (e.g. In general, any data or information that the victim transmits can be decrypted. Our attack is not limited to recovering login credentials (i.e. In any case, the following demonstration highlights the type of information that an attacker can obtain when performing key reinstallation attacks against protected Wi-Fi networks: When attacking other devices, it is harder to decrypt all packets, although a large number of packets can nevertheless be decrypted. This is because Android and Linux can be tricked into (re)installing an all-zero encryption key ( see below for more info). In this demonstration, the attacker is able to decrypt all data that the victim transmits.įor an attacker this is easy to accomplish, because our key reinstallation attack is exceptionally devastating against Linux and Android 6.0 or higher. DemonstrationĪs a proof-of-concept we executed a key reinstallation attack against an Android smartphone. Update October 2018: we have a follow-up paper where we generalize attacks,Īnd enhance attacks using implementation-specific bugs. Our detailed research paper can already be downloaded. The research behind the attack will be presented at the Computer and Communications Security (CCS) conference, and at the Black Hat Europe conference. Note that if your device supports Wi-Fi, it is most likely affected.ĭuring our initial research, we discovered ourselves that Android, Linux, Apple, Windows, OpenBSD, MediaTek, Linksys, and others, are all affected by some variant of the attacks.įor more information about specific products, consult the database of CERT/CC, or contact your vendor. To prevent the attack, users must update affected products as soon as security updates become available. Therefore, any correct implementation of WPA2 is likely affected. The weaknesses are in the Wi-Fi standard itself, and not in individual products or implementations. The attack works against all modern protected Wi-Fi networks.ĭepending on the network configuration, it is also possible to inject and manipulate data.įor example, an attacker might be able to inject ransomware or other malware into websites. This can be abused to steal sensitive information such as credit card numbers, passwords, chat messages, emails, photos, and so on. We discovered serious weaknesses in WPA2, a protocol that secures all modern protected Wi-Fi networks.Īn attacker within range of a victim can exploit these weaknesses using key reinstallation atta cks (KRACKs).Ĭoncretely, attackers can use this novel attack technique to read information that was previously assumed to be safely encrypted.
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