Cracking WPA/WPA2 Wi-Fi networks is a key skill for penetration testers and cybersecurity enthusiasts. While tools like Reaver rely on exploiting WPS vulnerabilities, this guide will focus on capturing and analyzing WPA handshakes using the aircrack-ng suite, without relying on Reaver.

For a visual walkthrough of the concepts covered in this article, check out my YouTube Video:

The Approach: Capturing the WPA Handshake

Our goal is to capture the WPA handshake between a router and a client. Once we have the handshake, we can attempt to crack the Wi-Fi password.

Tools You’ll Need:

• Aircrack-ng suite (including airodump-ng, aireplay-ng)
• A Wi-Fi adapter capable of monitor mode and packet injection

Step 1: Setting Up Monitor Mode

The first step is configuring your Wi-Fi adapter to monitor mode, which allows it to capture packets between the router and clients.

1.Start by scanning nearby networks using the wash command to check for WPS-enabled networks:

wash --interface <interface>

2.Set your wireless card to monitor mode using:

airmon-ng start <interface>

Step 2: Capturing the WPA Handshake

After your adapter is in monitor mode, you can begin capturing packets and looking for the WPA handshake.

1.Use airodump-ng to capture traffic on the target network:

airodump-ng --bssid <target BSSID> --channel <channel number> --interface <interface> -w <output file>

Replace and with the network’s information. This command will monitor traffic on that network and write the captured packets to a file.

Step 3: Forcing a Client to Reconnect

If no clients are actively connecting, you can force a reconnection by using a fake authentication or deauthentication attack.

1.Run a fake authentication attack using aireplay-ng:

aireplay-ng --fakeauth <number of attempts> -a <target BSSID> -h <your MAC> <interface>

2.Alternatively, use a deauthentication attack to kick off a client, forcing it to reconnect:

aireplay-ng --deauth <number of packets> -a <target BSSID> <interface>

These attacks will increase your chances of capturing the WPA handshake.

Step 4: Analyzing the Captured Handshake

Once you’ve captured the handshake, you can attempt to crack it. The captured file will contain the 4-way handshake, which you can analyze using aircrack-ng or Hashcat.

To attempt cracking the handshake using aircrack-ng:

aircrack-ng -w <path to wordlist> <capture file>

This will try to crack the handshake using a wordlist. You can explore other methods like rainbow tables or brute-force attacks if no wordlist is available.

Step 5: Conclusion

Cracking WPA/WPA2 without Reaver offers insight into the security of wireless networks and highlights vulnerabilities that should be patched. Always practice ethical hacking by only testing networks you have permission to assess.

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