Deauthenticating and disassociating unauthorized access points with spoofed management frames
AssigneeMeru Networks (Patent Prosecution)
InventorsMohan Ram, Anil KAUSHIK
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A spoofed management frame is sent to an unauthorized access point (AP) on behalf of a station from an authorized AP, using a media access control (MAC) address of the station. The spoofed frame triggers a security association (SA) query from an unauthorized AP to reestablish valid communications. An acknowledgment (ACK) frame sent from the client to the unauthorized AP responsive to the SA query request is detected by the AP. A probe response is sent to the client. The probe response includes a channel switching element. The channel switching prevents the client from completing the SA process before a time out.
Claims15
A computer-implemented method in an access point (AP) of a wireless network, the method comprising:
- sending an association request on behalf of a station to an authorized AP using a media access control (MAC) address of the station as a source address, wherein the request triggers an security association (SA) query from an unauthorized AP;
- detecting an acknowledgment (ACK) frame sent from the station to the unauthorized AP responsive to the SA query request;
- and
- responsive to the ACK frame detection, sending a probe response to the station, wherein the probe response includes a channel switching element, said channel switching element preventing the station from completing the SA process with the unauthorized AP before a time out.
A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform a computer-implemented method in an access point (AP), the method comprising:
- sending an unprotected association request on behalf of a station to an authorized AP using a media access control (MAC) address of the station as a source address, wherein the request triggers a security association (SA) query from an unauthorized AP;
- detecting an acknowledgment (ACK) frame sent from the station to the unauthorized AP responsive to the SA query request;
- and
- responsive to the ACK frame detection, sending a probe response to the station, wherein the probe response includes a channel switching element, said channel switching element preventing the station from completing the SA process with the unauthorized AP before a time out.
A computer-implemented method in an access point (AP), the method comprising:
- sending an unprotected association request on behalf of an unauthorized AP to the client using a media access control (MAC) address of the unauthorized AP as a source address, wherein the request triggers an security association (SA) query from the station;
- detecting an acknowledgment (ACK) frame sent from the unauthorized AP to the station responsive to the SA query request;
- responsive to the ACK frame detection, sending a probe response to the station, wherein the probe response includes a channel switching element, said channel switching element preventing the station from completing the SA process with the unauthorized AP before the time out;
- and
- sending an unprotected dissociation/deauthentication request.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.