A software and firmware security company called NetRise has found that many modern networking devices are still vulnerable to a Wi-Fi attack method first disclosed over a decade ago. The attack, known as Pixie Dust, lets a hacker bypass a wireless network's password and gain access.
The Pixie Dust attack, which came to light in 2014, exploits a vulnerability in Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS). When a device is in range of a target network, an attacker can capture the initial WPS handshake. This handshake contains data that can be cracked offline in minutes or even seconds to quickly obtain the router’s WPS PIN. The attack works because some devices use predictable or low-entropy methods to generate the random numbers needed for the handshake.
Widespread Vulnerability
To see if this old vulnerability was still a problem, NetRise analyzed 24 networking device models that are still used today. The analysis showed that a majority of the devices were still vulnerable to Pixie Dust attacks. In fact, only four of the 24 routers, access points, and other devices had been patched. NetRise's tests were able to recover a WPS PIN in just one to two seconds on the vulnerable devices.
While seven of the unpatched products have reached the end of their life, a significant number of them—13—are still supported by their vendors. This persistence of the WPS vulnerability, which could affect millions of devices, points to a larger problem in firmware supply chains. According to NetRise, vendors are still reusing insecure libraries, failing to set secure defaults, and not providing enough transparency, all of which creates a silent security risk for businesses and homes.
This discovery comes on the heels of a recent warning from CISA that an old vulnerability in TP-Link Wi-Fi extenders has been exploited in the wild, further highlighting the ongoing danger of unpatched flaws.
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