{"id":10804,"date":"2019-05-14T10:27:21","date_gmt":"2019-05-14T14:27:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/?p=10804"},"modified":"2023-04-10T13:00:05","modified_gmt":"2023-04-10T17:00:05","slug":"what-dragonblood-tells-us-about-wifi-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thesslstore.com\/blog\/what-dragonblood-tells-us-about-wifi-security\/","title":{"rendered":"What Dragonblood Tells Us About WiFi Security"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WPA3 stumbles out the gate thanks to a familiar vulnerability.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When the long-awaited WPA3 rolled out at the\nend of last year, the last thing anyone expected was for vulnerabilities in the\nshiny new WiFi security protocol to be discovered before the paint was even\ndry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a cruel irony, the security flaws – dubbed\nDragonblood<\/a> – were identified by the same duo of researchers behind\nthe discovery of KRACK, the critical vulnerability in WPA2 that was the final\nnail in the coffin for WPA3\u2019s 14-year-old predecessor and prompt for its\nreplacement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the WiFi Alliance have released a change\nin specification for the WPA3 standard, and hardware\/software vendors have\nimplemented the appropriate patches, the discovery of major security flaws in\nsuch quick succession is an unwelcome reminder that we should not blindly trust\nWiFi networks, even when they are supposedly \u201csecure\u201d. After all, who\u2019s to say\nwhen the next weakness will be found or who might find it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Key Difference between WPA2 and WPA3<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

WPA2<\/a> – currently\nthe most widely used security protocol despite it being phased out by WPA3 –\nhad been around for 14 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was exposed in 2017\nas having critical flaws that could be exploited through a hacking method known\nas KRACK, which allowed malicious attackers to decrypt network traffic. This\nmeant that any information shared over the network, such as credit card\ndetails, passwords or private messages, could be read by an attacker and used\nfor criminal activity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The WPA3 protocol<\/a>\npromised a distinct improvement due to its replacement of WPA2\u2019s 4-way\nhandshake with a Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SAE) handshake,\ncommonly known as Dragonfly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Recap of WPA2 Vulnerabilities <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Research led by Matty\nVanhoef and Eyal Ronen exposed critical\nsecurity flaws in the WPA2 protocol<\/a>.\nThese flaws allowed attackers to decrypt a user\u2019s connection, making their\ninternet traffic visible as well as any personal information they shared\nonline. Data could also be manipulated or injected into the network with the\naim of inserting ransomware or other malware into a website. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To manipulate these WPA2\nflaws, attackers would have had to be within range of the victim and launch a\nseries of key reinstallation attacks (KRACK). To protect against these attacks,\nusers were recommended to keep all devices up-to-date and install patches once\nthey were made available. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the discovery\nof KRACK, many believed WPA3 would present a significant improvement in WiFi\nsecurity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dragonblood Vulnerabilities Discovered in WPA3<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Shortly after its\nrelease, vulnerabilities were once again discovered in WPA3 by Vanhoef and\nRonen, raising concerns about what other flaws may be uncovered in the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These flaws were largely\nrelated to the new Dragonfly handshake protocol. Crucially, this is used in\nnetworks that require password-based authentication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vanhoef and Ronent\ndiscovered five types of attack that could be successfully executed on WPA3,\ncollectively known as Dragonblood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four of these attacks were based on the exploitation of\nvulnerabilities in the Dragonfly handshake protocol. These were as follows: <\/p>\n\n\n\n