EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) v12Wireless Network HackingMedium
A security researcher discovers a new type of wireless attack where a malicious actor sends specially crafted control frames to a target access point, causing it to crash or operate erratically, disrupting service for all connected clients. This attack exploits a vulnerability in the AP's firmware handling of these specific frame types. Which category of wireless attacks does this scenario BEST describe?
- ADenial-of-Service (DoS) attack
- BEavesdropping attack
- CEvil Twin attack
- DMan-in-the-Middle attack
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack
The scenario describes an attack that disrupts the normal operation of the access point, leading to service disruption for connected clients. This directly aligns with the definition of a Denial-of-Service (DoS) attack, which aims to make a network resource unavailable to its legitimate users.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. Eavesdropping involves passively listening to traffic, not actively disrupting service.
- C. An Evil Twin attack involves setting up a rogue AP to trick clients, not directly crashing a legitimate AP with malformed frames.
- D. A Man-in-the-Middle attack involves intercepting and potentially altering communication between two parties, not necessarily crashing an AP.
Wireless Denial-of-Service
Wireless Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks aim to prevent legitimate users from accessing a wireless network or its services, often by overwhelming the access point or exploiting vulnerabilities.
- Can involve deauthentication floods, jamming, or exploiting AP vulnerabilities.
- Impacts availability of the wireless network.
- Targeted attacks against AP firmware are a specific form of DoS.
Memory trick: DoS: Disrupting service, making Wi-Fi a mess.