How to Protect Your Home Network From “fraga Attacks”
The fact that your wireless devices are vulnerable to so-called “FragAttacks” is not a joy. However, a word is scarier than risk; There is no evidence that anyone actively exploits wireless devices through these vulnerabilities, even considering the millions that could be vulnerable to FragAttacks – short for “fragmentation and aggregation attacks.”
As writes security researcher Meti Vanhuf:
“The discovered vulnerabilities affect all modern Wi-Fi security protocols, including the latest WPA3 specification. Even the original Wi-Fi security protocol called WEP is affected. This means that some of the newly discovered design flaws have been part of Wi-Fi since its release in 1997! Fortunately, design flaws are difficult to abuse because it requires user interaction or is only possible with unusual network settings. As a result, in practice, programming errors in Wi-Fi products are of greatest concern, as some of them are easy to use. “
What is FragAttack?
The name “FragAttack” actually refers to a group of frame or data packet vulnerabilities that can be used to steal someone’s information as it travels between networked devices, or to completely hijack a device – be it simple IoT. a smart switch or an old laptop that you use to browse the web at home. Attackers can either inject unwanted unencrypted frames into the network, or use the way frames are pooled together (or how aggregates are split) to inject and execute data that was not originally there.
However, as Wanhoof points out, an attacker must be within range of your network to cause havoc. This already limits your potential risk, as this is simply not something you are likely to run into at home or in your apartment (unless you have a sneaky neighbor).
Simple Steps to Protect Yourself from FragAttacks
The best way to protect your network from FragAttack vulnerabilities is to keep your devices up to date. You will notice that this is the same advice we give everyone for every security vulnerability. Make sure your routers, smart devices, laptops, phones, etc. have the latest firmware and software you can find. If you’re lucky, your device manufacturer will have the means to automatically update them. Otherwise, you need to make sure that you regularly (for example, quarterly) check for critical updates that can fix such vulnerabilities.
For example, Eero has already updated its routers to completely block any FragAttack-style vulnerabilities from being exploited:
“Many of the vulnerabilities found by the researchers do not affect eero networks due to a combination of custom changes to our networking software that we have made over the years. In addition, eeroOS 6.2.1 and later includes a patch that will protect your network from the “FragAttacks” vulnerabilities, and is now available to all eero clients. You can click on information about any of your eras in the mobile application and start an OTA update if the version you see is not 6.2.1 or newer in the Settings tab.
Also, make sure you are using extensions such as HTTPS Everywhere in your browser so that you always connect to secure websites (and that the data you transmit through your devices cannot be intercepted). Also, I recommend manually setting up your own DNS on your router and / or devices to prevent any attacks that try to redirect your device to a malicious DNS server.
Also, don’t worry too much about it. Yes, these vulnerabilities are present in almost every network device, but they are (thankfully) obscure enough and difficult enough to exploit (requiring only a sufficient physical presence) that you will be fine as long as you stay on top of your security and updates – what you should do anyway.