WPA3/SAE in Wireshark
In June of 2018 the Wi-Fi Alliance launched their updated Wi-Fi security certification program known as WPA3. WPA3 was created to address security vulnerabilities that have been found in WPA2 over the last decade. Most notably, WPA2-Personal is vulnerable to offline dictionary attacks -- this is especially true when your password is less than 16 characters. Like WPA2, WPA3 has both Personal (SAE) and Enterprise (802.1X). Both of these options now mandate the use of 802.11w (PMF).
In this post we are going to take a closer look at WPA3-Personal; in particular the Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SAE). SAE replaces PSK Authentication and implements a new key establishment protocol. The new key establishment protocol ensures that a strong PMK is established even when the user has configured a weak password. In addition, WPA3 provides forward secrecy by establishing a new PMK every time the user associates with the network. There is always a risk of a dictionary attack, but WPA3 makes dictionary attacks exponentially more time consuming, potentially impossible from a practical perspective, and limits the amount of data that can be exposed per attack.
Here is an overview of the WPA3 exchange between a AP and client, in Wireshark:
In my opinion the new approach being adopted by the Wi-Fi Alliance is making WPA3 an evolutionary enhancement, where WPA3 is not just a fixed specification, but a living specification where security features will continue to be enhanced. I have heard speculation that the next security enhancement to WPA3 come at the end of 2020. I am hoping it will provide another blog worthy enhancement to WPA3 personal security. I hope you enjoyed this blog.
In this post we are going to take a closer look at WPA3-Personal; in particular the Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SAE). SAE replaces PSK Authentication and implements a new key establishment protocol. The new key establishment protocol ensures that a strong PMK is established even when the user has configured a weak password. In addition, WPA3 provides forward secrecy by establishing a new PMK every time the user associates with the network. There is always a risk of a dictionary attack, but WPA3 makes dictionary attacks exponentially more time consuming, potentially impossible from a practical perspective, and limits the amount of data that can be exposed per attack.
Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SAE)
SAE support on the AP can be seen by looking at the Beacon and Probe Response frames. Under the “RNS Information” and “Auth Key Management” IEs we can see support for SAE:
Here is an overview of the WPA3 exchange between a AP and client, in Wireshark: 
- Frames 1-3: Beacon and Probe Exchanges
- Frames 5-12: Authentication Exchange
- Auth Message 1: Client sends Commit message to AP with ECC/FFC, scalar, and element
- Auth Message 2: AP sends Commit message to client with scalar and element
- Auth Message 3: Client sends Confirm message to AP with confirmation token and hash
- Auth Message 4: AP sends Confirm message to Client with confirmation token and hash
- After Message 4, the Association process can begin
- Frames 14-16: Association Request/Response Messages
- Frames 18-24: 4-way EAPoL Handshake Exchange
In my opinion the new approach being adopted by the Wi-Fi Alliance is making WPA3 an evolutionary enhancement, where WPA3 is not just a fixed specification, but a living specification where security features will continue to be enhanced. I have heard speculation that the next security enhancement to WPA3 come at the end of 2020. I am hoping it will provide another blog worthy enhancement to WPA3 personal security. I hope you enjoyed this blog.
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