xref: /freebsd/contrib/wpa/hostapd/README (revision 86c9d9918f1db7cdd968b60f8902466887bcd9e9)
1hostapd - user space IEEE 802.11 AP and IEEE 802.1X/WPA/WPA2/EAP
2	  Authenticator and RADIUS authentication server
3================================================================
4
5Copyright (c) 2002-2015, Jouni Malinen <j@w1.fi> and contributors
6All Rights Reserved.
7
8This program is licensed under the BSD license (the one with
9advertisement clause removed).
10
11If you are submitting changes to the project, please see CONTRIBUTIONS
12file for more instructions.
13
14
15
16License
17-------
18
19This software may be distributed, used, and modified under the terms of
20BSD license:
21
22Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
23modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are
24met:
25
261. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
27   notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
28
292. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
30   notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
31   documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
32
333. Neither the name(s) of the above-listed copyright holder(s) nor the
34   names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products
35   derived from this software without specific prior written permission.
36
37THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
38"AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
39LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR
40A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT
41OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL,
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46(INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE
47OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
48
49
50
51Introduction
52============
53
54Originally, hostapd was an optional user space component for Host AP
55driver. It adds more features to the basic IEEE 802.11 management
56included in the kernel driver: using external RADIUS authentication
57server for MAC address based access control, IEEE 802.1X Authenticator
58and dynamic WEP keying, RADIUS accounting, WPA/WPA2 (IEEE 802.11i/RSN)
59Authenticator and dynamic TKIP/CCMP keying.
60
61The current version includes support for other drivers, an integrated
62EAP server (i.e., allow full authentication without requiring
63an external RADIUS authentication server), and RADIUS authentication
64server for EAP authentication.
65
66
67Requirements
68------------
69
70Current hardware/software requirements:
71- drivers:
72	Host AP driver for Prism2/2.5/3.
73	(http://hostap.epitest.fi/)
74	Please note that station firmware version needs to be 1.7.0 or newer
75	to work in WPA mode.
76
77	mac80211-based drivers that support AP mode (with driver=nl80211).
78	This includes drivers for Atheros (ath9k) and Broadcom (b43)
79	chipsets.
80
81	Any wired Ethernet driver for wired IEEE 802.1X authentication
82	(experimental code)
83
84	FreeBSD -current (with some kernel mods that have not yet been
85	committed when hostapd v0.3.0 was released)
86	BSD net80211 layer (e.g., Atheros driver)
87
88
89Build configuration
90-------------------
91
92In order to be able to build hostapd, you will need to create a build
93time configuration file, .config that selects which optional
94components are included. See defconfig file for example configuration
95and list of available options.
96
97
98
99IEEE 802.1X
100===========
101
102IEEE Std 802.1X-2001 is a standard for port-based network access
103control. In case of IEEE 802.11 networks, a "virtual port" is used
104between each associated station and the AP. IEEE 802.11 specifies
105minimal authentication mechanism for stations, whereas IEEE 802.1X
106introduces a extensible mechanism for authenticating and authorizing
107users.
108
109IEEE 802.1X uses elements called Supplicant, Authenticator, Port
110Access Entity, and Authentication Server. Supplicant is a component in
111a station and it performs the authentication with the Authentication
112Server. An access point includes an Authenticator that relays the packets
113between a Supplicant and an Authentication Server. In addition, it has a
114Port Access Entity (PAE) with Authenticator functionality for
115controlling the virtual port authorization, i.e., whether to accept
116packets from or to the station.
117
118IEEE 802.1X uses Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP). The frames
119between a Supplicant and an Authenticator are sent using EAP over LAN
120(EAPOL) and the Authenticator relays these frames to the Authentication
121Server (and similarly, relays the messages from the Authentication
122Server to the Supplicant). The Authentication Server can be colocated with the
123Authenticator, in which case there is no need for additional protocol
124for EAP frame transmission. However, a more common configuration is to
125use an external Authentication Server and encapsulate EAP frame in the
126frames used by that server. RADIUS is suitable for this, but IEEE
127802.1X would also allow other mechanisms.
128
129Host AP driver includes PAE functionality in the kernel driver. It
130is a relatively simple mechanism for denying normal frames going to
131or coming from an unauthorized port. PAE allows IEEE 802.1X related
132frames to be passed between the Supplicant and the Authenticator even
133on an unauthorized port.
134
135User space daemon, hostapd, includes Authenticator functionality. It
136receives 802.1X (EAPOL) frames from the Supplicant using the wlan#ap
137device that is also used with IEEE 802.11 management frames. The
138frames to the Supplicant are sent using the same device.
139
140The normal configuration of the Authenticator would use an external
141Authentication Server. hostapd supports RADIUS encapsulation of EAP
142packets, so the Authentication Server should be a RADIUS server, like
143FreeRADIUS (http://www.freeradius.org/). The Authenticator in hostapd
144relays the frames between the Supplicant and the Authentication
145Server. It also controls the PAE functionality in the kernel driver by
146controlling virtual port authorization, i.e., station-AP
147connection, based on the IEEE 802.1X state.
148
149When a station would like to use the services of an access point, it
150will first perform IEEE 802.11 authentication. This is normally done
151with open systems authentication, so there is no security. After
152this, IEEE 802.11 association is performed. If IEEE 802.1X is
153configured to be used, the virtual port for the station is set in
154Unauthorized state and only IEEE 802.1X frames are accepted at this
155point. The Authenticator will then ask the Supplicant to authenticate
156with the Authentication Server. After this is completed successfully,
157the virtual port is set to Authorized state and frames from and to the
158station are accepted.
159
160Host AP configuration for IEEE 802.1X
161-------------------------------------
162
163The user space daemon has its own configuration file that can be used to
164define AP options. Distribution package contains an example
165configuration file (hostapd/hostapd.conf) that can be used as a basis
166for configuration. It includes examples of all supported configuration
167options and short description of each option. hostapd should be started
168with full path to the configuration file as the command line argument,
169e.g., './hostapd /etc/hostapd.conf'. If you have more that one wireless
170LAN card, you can use one hostapd process for multiple interfaces by
171giving a list of configuration files (one per interface) in the command
172line.
173
174hostapd includes a minimal co-located IEEE 802.1X server which can be
175used to test IEEE 802.1X authentication. However, it should not be
176used in normal use since it does not provide any security. This can be
177configured by setting ieee8021x and minimal_eap options in the
178configuration file.
179
180An external Authentication Server (RADIUS) is configured with
181auth_server_{addr,port,shared_secret} options. In addition,
182ieee8021x and own_ip_addr must be set for this mode. With such
183configuration, the co-located Authentication Server is not used and EAP
184frames will be relayed using EAPOL between the Supplicant and the
185Authenticator and RADIUS encapsulation between the Authenticator and
186the Authentication Server. Other than this, the functionality is similar
187to the case with the co-located Authentication Server.
188
189Authentication Server and Supplicant
190------------------------------------
191
192Any RADIUS server supporting EAP should be usable as an IEEE 802.1X
193Authentication Server with hostapd Authenticator. FreeRADIUS
194(http://www.freeradius.org/) has been successfully tested with hostapd
195Authenticator and both Xsupplicant (http://www.open1x.org) and Windows
196XP Supplicants. EAP/TLS was used with Xsupplicant and
197EAP/MD5-Challenge with Windows XP.
198
199http://www.missl.cs.umd.edu/wireless/eaptls/ has useful information
200about using EAP/TLS with FreeRADIUS and Xsupplicant (just replace
201Cisco access point with Host AP driver, hostapd daemon, and a Prism2
202card ;-). http://www.freeradius.org/doc/EAP-MD5.html has information
203about using EAP/MD5 with FreeRADIUS, including instructions for WinXP
204configuration. http://www.denobula.com/EAPTLS.pdf has a HOWTO on
205EAP/TLS use with WinXP Supplicant.
206
207Automatic WEP key configuration
208-------------------------------
209
210EAP/TLS generates a session key that can be used to send WEP keys from
211an AP to authenticated stations. The Authenticator in hostapd can be
212configured to automatically select a random default/broadcast key
213(shared by all authenticated stations) with wep_key_len_broadcast
214option (5 for 40-bit WEP or 13 for 104-bit WEP). In addition,
215wep_key_len_unicast option can be used to configure individual unicast
216keys for stations. This requires support for individual keys in the
217station driver.
218
219WEP keys can be automatically updated by configuring rekeying. This
220will improve security of the network since same WEP key will only be
221used for a limited period of time. wep_rekey_period option sets the
222interval for rekeying in seconds.
223
224
225WPA/WPA2
226========
227
228Features
229--------
230
231Supported WPA/IEEE 802.11i features:
232- WPA-PSK ("WPA-Personal")
233- WPA with EAP (e.g., with RADIUS authentication server) ("WPA-Enterprise")
234- key management for CCMP, TKIP, WEP104, WEP40
235- RSN/WPA2 (IEEE 802.11i), including PMKSA caching and pre-authentication
236
237WPA
238---
239
240The original security mechanism of IEEE 802.11 standard was not
241designed to be strong and has proved to be insufficient for most
242networks that require some kind of security. Task group I (Security)
243of IEEE 802.11 working group (http://www.ieee802.org/11/) has worked
244to address the flaws of the base standard and has in practice
245completed its work in May 2004. The IEEE 802.11i amendment to the IEEE
246802.11 standard was approved in June 2004 and this amendment is likely
247to be published in July 2004.
248
249Wi-Fi Alliance (http://www.wi-fi.org/) used a draft version of the
250IEEE 802.11i work (draft 3.0) to define a subset of the security
251enhancements that can be implemented with existing wlan hardware. This
252is called Wi-Fi Protected Access<TM> (WPA). This has now become a
253mandatory component of interoperability testing and certification done
254by Wi-Fi Alliance. Wi-Fi provides information about WPA at its web
255site (http://www.wi-fi.org/OpenSection/protected_access.asp).
256
257IEEE 802.11 standard defined wired equivalent privacy (WEP) algorithm
258for protecting wireless networks. WEP uses RC4 with 40-bit keys,
25924-bit initialization vector (IV), and CRC32 to protect against packet
260forgery. All these choices have proven to be insufficient: key space is
261too small against current attacks, RC4 key scheduling is insufficient
262(beginning of the pseudorandom stream should be skipped), IV space is
263too small and IV reuse makes attacks easier, there is no replay
264protection, and non-keyed authentication does not protect against bit
265flipping packet data.
266
267WPA is an intermediate solution for the security issues. It uses
268Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) to replace WEP. TKIP is a
269compromise on strong security and possibility to use existing
270hardware. It still uses RC4 for the encryption like WEP, but with
271per-packet RC4 keys. In addition, it implements replay protection,
272keyed packet authentication mechanism (Michael MIC).
273
274Keys can be managed using two different mechanisms. WPA can either use
275an external authentication server (e.g., RADIUS) and EAP just like
276IEEE 802.1X is using or pre-shared keys without need for additional
277servers. Wi-Fi calls these "WPA-Enterprise" and "WPA-Personal",
278respectively. Both mechanisms will generate a master session key for
279the Authenticator (AP) and Supplicant (client station).
280
281WPA implements a new key handshake (4-Way Handshake and Group Key
282Handshake) for generating and exchanging data encryption keys between
283the Authenticator and Supplicant. This handshake is also used to
284verify that both Authenticator and Supplicant know the master session
285key. These handshakes are identical regardless of the selected key
286management mechanism (only the method for generating master session
287key changes).
288
289
290IEEE 802.11i / WPA2
291-------------------
292
293The design for parts of IEEE 802.11i that were not included in WPA has
294finished (May 2004) and this amendment to IEEE 802.11 was approved in
295June 2004. Wi-Fi Alliance is using the final IEEE 802.11i as a new
296version of WPA called WPA2. This includes, e.g., support for more
297robust encryption algorithm (CCMP: AES in Counter mode with CBC-MAC)
298to replace TKIP and optimizations for handoff (reduced number of
299messages in initial key handshake, pre-authentication, and PMKSA caching).
300
301Some wireless LAN vendors are already providing support for CCMP in
302their WPA products. There is no "official" interoperability
303certification for CCMP and/or mixed modes using both TKIP and CCMP, so
304some interoperability issues can be expected even though many
305combinations seem to be working with equipment from different vendors.
306Testing for WPA2 is likely to start during the second half of 2004.
307
308hostapd configuration for WPA/WPA2
309----------------------------------
310
311TODO
312
313# Enable WPA. Setting this variable configures the AP to require WPA (either
314# WPA-PSK or WPA-RADIUS/EAP based on other configuration). For WPA-PSK, either
315# wpa_psk or wpa_passphrase must be set and wpa_key_mgmt must include WPA-PSK.
316# For WPA-RADIUS/EAP, ieee8021x must be set (but without dynamic WEP keys),
317# RADIUS authentication server must be configured, and WPA-EAP must be included
318# in wpa_key_mgmt.
319# This field is a bit field that can be used to enable WPA (IEEE 802.11i/D3.0)
320# and/or WPA2 (full IEEE 802.11i/RSN):
321# bit0 = WPA
322# bit1 = IEEE 802.11i/RSN (WPA2)
323#wpa=1
324
325# WPA pre-shared keys for WPA-PSK. This can be either entered as a 256-bit
326# secret in hex format (64 hex digits), wpa_psk, or as an ASCII passphrase
327# (8..63 characters) that will be converted to PSK. This conversion uses SSID
328# so the PSK changes when ASCII passphrase is used and the SSID is changed.
329#wpa_psk=0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef0123456789abcdef
330#wpa_passphrase=secret passphrase
331
332# Set of accepted key management algorithms (WPA-PSK, WPA-EAP, or both). The
333# entries are separated with a space.
334#wpa_key_mgmt=WPA-PSK WPA-EAP
335
336# Set of accepted cipher suites (encryption algorithms) for pairwise keys
337# (unicast packets). This is a space separated list of algorithms:
338# CCMP = AES in Counter mode with CBC-MAC [RFC 3610, IEEE 802.11i]
339# TKIP = Temporal Key Integrity Protocol [IEEE 802.11i]
340# Group cipher suite (encryption algorithm for broadcast and multicast frames)
341# is automatically selected based on this configuration. If only CCMP is
342# allowed as the pairwise cipher, group cipher will also be CCMP. Otherwise,
343# TKIP will be used as the group cipher.
344#wpa_pairwise=TKIP CCMP
345
346# Time interval for rekeying GTK (broadcast/multicast encryption keys) in
347# seconds.
348#wpa_group_rekey=600
349
350# Time interval for rekeying GMK (master key used internally to generate GTKs
351# (in seconds).
352#wpa_gmk_rekey=86400
353
354# Enable IEEE 802.11i/RSN/WPA2 pre-authentication. This is used to speed up
355# roaming be pre-authenticating IEEE 802.1X/EAP part of the full RSN
356# authentication and key handshake before actually associating with a new AP.
357#rsn_preauth=1
358#
359# Space separated list of interfaces from which pre-authentication frames are
360# accepted (e.g., 'eth0' or 'eth0 wlan0wds0'. This list should include all
361# interface that are used for connections to other APs. This could include
362# wired interfaces and WDS links. The normal wireless data interface towards
363# associated stations (e.g., wlan0) should not be added, since
364# pre-authentication is only used with APs other than the currently associated
365# one.
366#rsn_preauth_interfaces=eth0
367