WPA_BACKGROUND(8)

💖 WPA_BACKGROUND 💖

okay bestie, so this is a page from section 8 of the manual — wpa_background, and it's literally just the ✨lore✨ behind Wi-Fi Protected Access and IEEE 802.11i. no commands, no flags, just vibes and backstory. sit down, grab a boba 🧋, we're doing a history lesson.

🛡️ WPA 🛡️

so like, the original security mechanism of the IEEE 802.11 standard? not designed to be strong 💀 and it has proven to be insufficient for most networks that actually want some kind of security. embarrassing honestly.

Task group I (Security) of the IEEE 802.11 working group (http://www.ieee802.org/11/) worked to address the flaws of the base standard, and in practice finished its work in May 2004. The IEEE 802.11i amendment to the IEEE 802.11 standard was approved in June 2004 and published in July 2004. periodt. 👑

Wi-Fi Alliance (http://www.wi-fi.org/) used a draft version of the IEEE 802.11i work — draft 3.0, iykyk — to define a subset of the security enhancements that can actually be implemented with existing wlan hardware. that's called Wi-Fi Protected Access<TM> aka WPA. and now it's a mandatory component of the interoperability testing and certification that Wi-Fi Alliance does. slay. Wi-Fi provides info about WPA at its web site (http://www.wi-fi.org/OpenSection/protected_access.asp).

okay so, IEEE 802.11 defined the wired equivalent privacy (WEP) algorithm for protecting wireless networks. WEP uses RC4 with 40-bit keys, a 24-bit initialization vector (IV), and CRC32 to protect against packet forgery. and bestie… all of these choices have proven to be insufficient:

• key space is too small against current attacks 😭
• RC4 key scheduling is insufficient — the beginning of the pseudorandom stream should be skipped 🙈
• IV space is too small, and IV reuse makes attacks easier 💀
• there is no replay protection 🚩
• non-keyed authentication does not protect against bit flipping packet data 🚩

WPA is an intermediate solution for all these security issues. it uses Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) to replace WEP. TKIP is a compromise between strong security and the possibility of using existing hardware — it's giving "we work with what we have". it still uses RC4 for the encryption like WEP does, but with per-packet RC4 keys. plus it implements replay protection and a keyed packet authentication mechanism (Michael MIC). iconic.

keys can be managed using two different mechanisms, and this is the part where you pick your fighter:

• WPA can use an external authentication server (e.g., RADIUS) and EAP, just like IEEE 802.1X is using, or
• pre-shared keys, with no need for additional servers.

Wi-Fi calls these "WPA-Enterprise" and "WPA-Personal", respectively. both mechanisms will generate a master session key for the Authenticator (AP) and the Supplicant (client station). 💅

WPA implements a new key handshake (4-Way Handshake and Group Key Handshake) for generating and exchanging data encryption keys between the Authenticator and Supplicant. this handshake is also used to verify that both the Authenticator and Supplicant know the master session key. and here's the cute part — these handshakes are identical regardless of the selected key management mechanism (only the method for generating the master session key changes). consistent queen. 👑

🌈 IEEE 802.11I / WPA2 🌈

the design for the parts of IEEE 802.11i that were not included in WPA finished (May 2004) and this amendment to IEEE 802.11 was approved in June 2004. Wi-Fi Alliance is using the final IEEE 802.11i as a new version of WPA called WPA2. 💫

this includes, e.g.:

• support for a more robust encryption algorithm — CCMP: AES in Counter mode with CBC-MAC — to replace TKIP 🔥
• optimizations for handoff: reduced number of messages in the initial key handshake, pre-authentication, and PMKSA caching ✨

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

• wpa_supplicant(8)

⚖️ LEGAL ⚖️

wpa_supplicant is copyright (c) 2003-2022, Jouni Malinen <j@w1.fi> and contributors. All Rights Reserved.

This program is licensed under the BSD license (the one with advertisement clause removed).

no cap, this page is literally just background — go read wpa_supplicant(8) if you want the actual main character energy 🫶

and that's the whole page bestie, dated 07 August 2019, filed under WPA_BACKGROUND(8) in section 8 of the manual. go off 💖🎀🦋