A novel Evil Twin MiTM attack through 802.11v protocol exploitation

Abstract

In recent years, especially where 802.11 networks are involved, we have seen a rise in Man in the Middle (MiTM) attacks. In this work, we propose a novel method that maliciously exploits the BSS Transition Management frames IEEE 802.11v protocol and demonstrates how such an attack can be performed, by utilizing roaming 802.11 protocols. To the best of our knowledge, this kind of approach has not been examined in the past. Our testbed results suggest that the proposed method is successful, regardless of the legitimate and rogue access point signal strengths provided to the terminal under attack. This is not the case for other MiTM attack methods, where the signal strength provided by the rogue access point to the terminal under attack must be stronger than the legitimate access point signal strength. During the experimentation phase with our testbed, several mobile phone models were used to demonstrate the suggested technique. After demonstrating the validity of the method through the testbed, further analysis is performed with a realistic ray tracing simulator to determine practical attack distance limits in an urban environment under investigation and how an adversary can manipulate a device to connect to a rogue access point.