Bug #8718

Document new expected MAC spoofing failures e.g. with MacBook Air 5,1

Added by goupille 2015-01-17 18:25:23 . Updated 2015-01-23 19:11:48 .

Status:
Resolved
Priority:
Elevated
Assignee:
Category:
Spoof MAC
Target version:
Tails_1.3
Start date:
2015-01-17
Due date:
% Done:

100%

Feature Branch:
doc/8718-mac-spoofing-vs-bcm43224
Type of work:
End-user documentation
Blueprint:

Starter:
Affected tool:
Deliverable for:

Description

with Tails 1.2.3, Mac spoofing fails, but the network is up. the error :
“MAC spoofing failed for network card (wlan0) so it is temporarily
disabled. You might prefer to restart Tails and disable MAC spoofing.
See the documentation.”

the NIC :
Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM43224 802.11a/b/g/n

the logs :

(rev 01)= output of command grep spoof-mac: /var/log/messages =
Jan 15 23:32:54 localhost spoof-mac: Trying to spoof MAC address of NIC wlan0…
Jan 15 23:32:54 localhost spoof-mac: Failed to spoof MAC address of NIC wlan0. Going into panic mode.
Jan 15 23:32:54 localhost spoof-mac: Successfully unloaded module brcmsmac of NIC wlan0.

Subtasks

History

#1 Updated by BitingBird 2015-01-18 22:41:43

  • Category set to Spoof MAC

#2 Updated by anonym 2015-01-19 13:19:31

  • Status changed from New to Confirmed
  • Priority changed from Normal to Elevated
  • Target version set to Tails_1.3
  • Type of work changed from Research to End-user documentation

goupille wrote:
> Jan 15 23:32:54 localhost spoof-mac: Trying to spoof MAC address of NIC wlan0…
> Jan 15 23:32:54 localhost spoof-mac: Failed to spoof MAC address of NIC wlan0. Going into panic mode.
> Jan 15 23:32:54 localhost spoof-mac: Successfully unloaded module brcmsmac of NIC wlan0.

This is actually because of a security fix in 1.2.3, so this is a good thing; see Bug #8571. Apparently MAC spoofing is broken for “Broadcom Corporation BCM43224 802.11a/b/g/n” adapters. Hence, if the MAC spoofing Tails feature is enabled (which it is by default) networking will be disabled thanks to the MAC spoofing fail-safe (panic mode). Users should get a notification about this that explains that disabling MAC spoofing may help them, but we have a bug about it not being shown sometimes (Bug #8685).

The next steps are: document as a known issue (and link to it in the 1.2.3 release notes) that “Broadcom Corporation BCM43224 802.11a/b/g/n” adapters cannot have their MAC addresses spoofed, and that the MAC spoofing option must be disabled in Tails Greeter to get such cards working. Obviously the consequences of this (e.g. potential leak of geographical movements) must be made clear.

#3 Updated by intrigeri 2015-01-21 10:48:13

  • Assignee set to anonym

#4 Updated by intrigeri 2015-01-21 15:10:14

  • Subject changed from Mac spoofing fails with MacBook Air 5,1 to Document new expected MAC spoofing failures e.g. with MacBook Air 5,1

#5 Updated by anonym 2015-01-23 17:11:38

  • Status changed from Confirmed to In Progress
  • Assignee deleted (anonym)
  • % Done changed from 0 to 50
  • QA Check set to Ready for QA
  • Feature Branch set to doc/8718-mac-spoofing-vs-bcm43224

Please merge into master.

#6 Updated by intrigeri 2015-01-23 19:11:48

  • Status changed from In Progress to Resolved
  • % Done changed from 50 to 100
  • QA Check changed from Ready for QA to Pass