Dangerous security flaw allows hackers to monitor Wi-Fi networks and steal information

According to TechRadar, a serious security flaw has just been discovered in the IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi standard that can be easily exploited by hackers to infiltrate and secretly spy on users' networks.

This vulnerability is called 'SSID Confusion', tracked with the code CVE-2023-52424. All operating systems and Wi-Fi devices, regardless of home or mesh networks, using any of the WEP, WPA3, 802.11X/EAP or AMPE protocols are affected by this bug.

According to The Hacker News, if successfully exploiting this vulnerability, an attacker can spoof the trusted Wi-Fi network name (SSID), tricking the user's device into connecting to a malicious Wi-Fi network instead of the SSID. Real. Then, the attacker can commit crimes such as secretly monitoring network traffic, stealing sensitive information such as passwords, bank accounts, emails. of users.

SSID security measures are only activated when the device requests to join a specific network and are not always authenticated. Taking advantage of this vulnerability, an attacker could create a Wi-Fi network with an SSID name similar to the Wi-Fi network the user trusts and use the same credentials to spoof the user's device. when connecting to a Wi-Fi network. At that time, the user's device will automatically connect to the malicious Wi-Fi network created by hackers without even knowing.

However, the 'SSID Confusion' attack only works when the attacker is close to the victim's range to perform an Attack-in-the-Middle attack between the victim and the vulnerable network. trust.

To avoid the risk of SSID Confusion attacks, experts recommend that users update their devices to the latest Wi-Fi version (802.11), use strong passwords for Wi-Fi networks and be careful when connecting. with public Wi-Fi networks and only access websites that use HTTPS connections.

Kareem Winters

Update 20 May 2024