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- wpa_supplicant and Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS)
- ==============================================
- This document describes how the WPS implementation in wpa_supplicant
- can be configured and how an external component on the client (e.g.,
- management GUI) is used to enable WPS enrollment and registrar
- registration.
- Introduction to WPS
- -------------------
- Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) is a mechanism for easy configuration of a
- wireless network. It allows automated generation of random keys (WPA
- passphrase/PSK) and configuration of an access point and client
- devices. WPS includes number of methods for setting up connections
- with PIN method and push-button configuration (PBC) being the most
- commonly deployed options.
- While WPS can enable more home networks to use encryption in the
- wireless network, it should be noted that the use of the PIN and
- especially PBC mechanisms for authenticating the initial key setup is
- not very secure. As such, use of WPS may not be suitable for
- environments that require secure network access without chance for
- allowing outsiders to gain access during the setup phase.
- WPS uses following terms to describe the entities participating in the
- network setup:
- - access point: the WLAN access point
- - Registrar: a device that control a network and can authorize
- addition of new devices); this may be either in the AP ("internal
- Registrar") or in an external device, e.g., a laptop, ("external
- Registrar")
- - Enrollee: a device that is being authorized to use the network
- It should also be noted that the AP and a client device may change
- roles (i.e., AP acts as an Enrollee and client device as a Registrar)
- when WPS is used to configure the access point.
- More information about WPS is available from Wi-Fi Alliance:
- http://www.wi-fi.org/wifi-protected-setup
- wpa_supplicant implementation
- -----------------------------
- wpa_supplicant includes an optional WPS component that can be used as
- an Enrollee to enroll new network credential or as a Registrar to
- configure an AP. The current version of wpa_supplicant does not
- support operation as an external WLAN Management Registrar for adding
- new client devices or configuring the AP over UPnP.
- wpa_supplicant configuration
- ----------------------------
- WPS is an optional component that needs to be enabled in
- wpa_supplicant build configuration (.config). Here is an example
- configuration that includes WPS support and Linux wireless extensions
- -based driver interface:
- CONFIG_DRIVER_WEXT=y
- CONFIG_EAP=y
- CONFIG_WPS=y
- WPS needs the Universally Unique IDentifier (UUID; see RFC 4122) for
- the device. This is configured in the runtime configuration for
- wpa_supplicant (if not set, UUID will be generated based on local MAC
- address):
- # example UUID for WPS
- uuid=12345678-9abc-def0-1234-56789abcdef0
- The network configuration blocks needed for WPS are added
- automatically based on control interface commands, so they do not need
- to be added explicitly in the configuration file.
- WPS registration will generate new network blocks for the acquired
- credentials. If these are to be stored for future use (after
- restarting wpa_supplicant), wpa_supplicant will need to be configured
- to allow configuration file updates:
- update_config=1
- External operations
- -------------------
- WPS requires either a device PIN code (usually, 8-digit number) or a
- pushbutton event (for PBC) to allow a new WPS Enrollee to join the
- network. wpa_supplicant uses the control interface as an input channel
- for these events.
- If the client device has a display, a random PIN has to be generated
- for each WPS registration session. wpa_supplicant can do this with a
- control interface request, e.g., by calling wpa_cli:
- wpa_cli wps_pin any
- This will return the generated 8-digit PIN which will then need to be
- entered at the Registrar to complete WPS registration. At that point,
- the client will be enrolled with credentials needed to connect to the
- AP to access the network.
- If the client device does not have a display that could show the
- random PIN, a hardcoded PIN that is printed on a label can be
- used. wpa_supplicant is notified this with a control interface
- request, e.g., by calling wpa_cli:
- wpa_cli wps_pin any 12345670
- This starts the WPS negotiation in the same way as above with the
- generated PIN.
- If the client design wants to support optional WPS PBC mode, this can
- be enabled by either a physical button in the client device or a
- virtual button in the user interface. The PBC operation requires that
- a button is also pressed at the AP/Registrar at about the same time (2
- minute window). wpa_supplicant is notified of the local button event
- over the control interface, e.g., by calling wpa_cli:
- wpa_cli wps_pbc
- At this point, the AP/Registrar has two minutes to complete WPS
- negotiation which will generate a new WPA PSK in the same way as the
- PIN method described above.
- If the client wants to operate in the Registrar role to learn the
- current AP configuration and optionally, to configure an AP,
- wpa_supplicant is notified over the control interface, e.g., with
- wpa_cli:
- wpa_cli wps_reg <AP BSSID> <AP PIN>
- (example: wpa_cli wps_reg 02:34:56:78:9a:bc 12345670)
- This is used to fetch the current AP settings instead of actually
- changing them. The main difference with the wps_pin command is that
- wps_reg uses the AP PIN (e.g., from a label on the AP) instead of a
- PIN generated at the client.
- In order to change the AP configuration, the new configuration
- parameters are given to the wps_reg command:
- wpa_cli wps_reg <AP BSSID> <AP PIN> <new SSID> <auth> <encr> <new key>
- examples:
- wpa_cli wps_reg 02:34:56:78:9a:bc 12345670 testing WPA2PSK CCMP 12345678
- wpa_cli wps_reg 02:34:56:78:9a:bc 12345670 clear OPEN NONE ""
- <auth> must be one of the following: OPEN WPAPSK WPA2PSK
- <encr> must be one of the following: NONE WEP TKIP CCMP
- Scanning
- --------
- Scan results ('wpa_cli scan_results' or 'wpa_cli bss <idx>') include a
- flags field that is used to indicate whether the BSS support WPS. If
- the AP support WPS, but has not recently activated a Registrar, [WPS]
- flag will be included. If PIN method has been recently selected,
- [WPS-PIN] is shown instead. Similarly, [WPS-PBC] is shown if PBC mode
- is in progress. GUI programs can use these as triggers for suggesting
- a guided WPS configuration to the user. In addition, control interface
- monitor events WPS-AP-AVAILABLE{,-PBC,-PIN} can be used to find out if
- there are WPS enabled APs in scan results without having to go through
- all the details in the GUI. These notification could be used, e.g., to
- suggest possible WPS connection to the user.
- wpa_gui
- -------
- wpa_gui-qt4 directory contains a sample GUI that shows an example of
- how WPS support can be integrated into the GUI. Its main window has a
- WPS tab that guides user through WPS registration with automatic AP
- selection. In addition, it shows how WPS can be started manually by
- selecting an AP from scan results.
- Credential processing
- ---------------------
- By default, wpa_supplicant processes received credentials and updates
- its configuration internally. However, it is possible to
- control these operations from external programs, if desired.
- This internal processing can be disabled with wps_cred_processing=1
- option. When this is used, an external program is responsible for
- processing the credential attributes and updating wpa_supplicant
- configuration based on them.
- Following control interface messages are sent out for external programs:
- WPS-CRED-RECEIVED <hexdump of Credential attribute(s)>
- For example:
- <2>WPS-CRED-RECEIVED 100e006f10260001011045000c6a6b6d2d7770732d74657374100300020020100f000200081027004030653462303435366332363666653064333961643135353461316634626637313234333761636664623766333939653534663166316230323061643434386235102000060266a0ee1727
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