Wi-Fi Deauthentication Attack
What is Wi-Fi Deauthentication Attack?
Wi-Fi Deauthentication AttackA Wi-Fi deauthentication attack abuses unprotected 802.11 management frames to forcibly disconnect clients from an access point, enabling denial of service or follow-on attacks.
A deauthentication attack sends spoofed 802.11 deauth or disassociation frames that claim to come from the access point or the client. Because legacy 802.11 management frames are not authenticated, the targeted client immediately drops its association. Attackers use this to disrupt connectivity, capture the WPA2 four-way handshake when the client reconnects (to crack the PSK offline), or force a victim onto a rogue access point for adversary-in-the-middle. Tools such as aircrack-ng and the Wi-Fi Pineapple automate the attack. Defences include 802.11w Protected Management Frames (PMF), WPA3 (which mandates PMF), wireless intrusion detection, and monitoring for sudden floods of deauth frames.
● Examples
- 01
Knocking guests off a corporate Wi-Fi to force handshake capture for offline cracking.
- 02
Using deauth frames to coerce clients onto a malicious twin access point.
● Frequently asked questions
What is Wi-Fi Deauthentication Attack?
A Wi-Fi deauthentication attack abuses unprotected 802.11 management frames to forcibly disconnect clients from an access point, enabling denial of service or follow-on attacks. It belongs to the Network Security category of cybersecurity.
What does Wi-Fi Deauthentication Attack mean?
A Wi-Fi deauthentication attack abuses unprotected 802.11 management frames to forcibly disconnect clients from an access point, enabling denial of service or follow-on attacks.
How does Wi-Fi Deauthentication Attack work?
A deauthentication attack sends spoofed 802.11 deauth or disassociation frames that claim to come from the access point or the client. Because legacy 802.11 management frames are not authenticated, the targeted client immediately drops its association. Attackers use this to disrupt connectivity, capture the WPA2 four-way handshake when the client reconnects (to crack the PSK offline), or force a victim onto a rogue access point for adversary-in-the-middle. Tools such as aircrack-ng and the Wi-Fi Pineapple automate the attack. Defences include 802.11w Protected Management Frames (PMF), WPA3 (which mandates PMF), wireless intrusion detection, and monitoring for sudden floods of deauth frames.
How do you defend against Wi-Fi Deauthentication Attack?
Defences for Wi-Fi Deauthentication Attack typically combine technical controls and operational practices, as detailed in the full definition above.
What are other names for Wi-Fi Deauthentication Attack?
Common alternative names include: Deauth attack, Wi-Fi disassociation attack.
● Related terms
- attacks№ 396
Evil Twin Attack
A Wi-Fi attack in which an adversary stands up a rogue access point that mimics a legitimate SSID, so victims connect to it and expose traffic or credentials.
- network-security№ 1250
WPA3
The third generation of Wi-Fi Protected Access, introducing SAE-based authentication, forward secrecy, and stronger protections for personal and enterprise Wi-Fi.
- attacks№ 943
Rogue Access Point
An unauthorised wireless access point connected to a network, either installed maliciously by an attacker or naively by an employee, that bypasses network security controls.