1wpa_supplicant and Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS)
2==============================================
3
4This document describes how the WPS implementation in wpa_supplicant
5can be configured and how an external component on the client (e.g.,
6management GUI) is used to enable WPS enrollment and registrar
7registration.
8
9
10Introduction to WPS
11-------------------
12
13Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) is a mechanism for easy configuration of a
14wireless network. It allows automated generation of random keys (WPA
15passphrase/PSK) and configuration of an access point and client
16devices. WPS includes number of methods for setting up connections
17with PIN method and push-button configuration (PBC) being the most
18commonly deployed options.
19
20While WPS can enable more home networks to use encryption in the
21wireless network, it should be noted that the use of the PIN and
22especially PBC mechanisms for authenticating the initial key setup is
23not very secure. As such, use of WPS may not be suitable for
24environments that require secure network access without chance for
25allowing outsiders to gain access during the setup phase.
26
27WPS uses following terms to describe the entities participating in the
28network setup:
29- access point: the WLAN access point
30- Registrar: a device that control a network and can authorize
31  addition of new devices); this may be either in the AP ("internal
32  Registrar") or in an external device, e.g., a laptop, ("external
33  Registrar")
34- Enrollee: a device that is being authorized to use the network
35
36It should also be noted that the AP and a client device may change
37roles (i.e., AP acts as an Enrollee and client device as a Registrar)
38when WPS is used to configure the access point.
39
40
41More information about WPS is available from Wi-Fi Alliance:
42http://www.wi-fi.org/wifi-protected-setup
43
44
45wpa_supplicant implementation
46-----------------------------
47
48wpa_supplicant includes an optional WPS component that can be used as
49an Enrollee to enroll new network credential or as a Registrar to
50configure an AP.
51
52
53wpa_supplicant configuration
54----------------------------
55
56WPS is an optional component that needs to be enabled in
57wpa_supplicant build configuration (.config). Here is an example
58configuration that includes WPS support and Linux nl80211 -based
59driver interface:
60
61CONFIG_DRIVER_NL80211=y
62CONFIG_WPS=y
63CONFIG_WPS2=y
64
65If you want to enable WPS external registrar (ER) functionality, you
66will also need to add following line:
67
68CONFIG_WPS_ER=y
69
70Following parameter can be used to enable support for NFC config method:
71
72CONFIG_WPS_NFC=y
73
74
75WPS needs the Universally Unique IDentifier (UUID; see RFC 4122) for
76the device. This is configured in the runtime configuration for
77wpa_supplicant (if not set, UUID will be generated based on local MAC
78address):
79
80# example UUID for WPS
81uuid=12345678-9abc-def0-1234-56789abcdef0
82
83The network configuration blocks needed for WPS are added
84automatically based on control interface commands, so they do not need
85to be added explicitly in the configuration file.
86
87WPS registration will generate new network blocks for the acquired
88credentials. If these are to be stored for future use (after
89restarting wpa_supplicant), wpa_supplicant will need to be configured
90to allow configuration file updates:
91
92update_config=1
93
94
95
96External operations
97-------------------
98
99WPS requires either a device PIN code (usually, 8-digit number) or a
100pushbutton event (for PBC) to allow a new WPS Enrollee to join the
101network. wpa_supplicant uses the control interface as an input channel
102for these events.
103
104The PIN value used in the commands must be processed by an UI to
105remove non-digit characters and potentially, to verify the checksum
106digit. "wpa_cli wps_check_pin <PIN>" can be used to do such processing.
107It returns FAIL if the PIN is invalid, or FAIL-CHECKSUM if the checksum
108digit is incorrect, or the processed PIN (non-digit characters removed)
109if the PIN is valid.
110
111If the client device has a display, a random PIN has to be generated
112for each WPS registration session. wpa_supplicant can do this with a
113control interface request, e.g., by calling wpa_cli:
114
115wpa_cli wps_pin any
116
117This will return the generated 8-digit PIN which will then need to be
118entered at the Registrar to complete WPS registration. At that point,
119the client will be enrolled with credentials needed to connect to the
120AP to access the network.
121
122
123If the client device does not have a display that could show the
124random PIN, a hardcoded PIN that is printed on a label can be
125used. wpa_supplicant is notified this with a control interface
126request, e.g., by calling wpa_cli:
127
128wpa_cli wps_pin any 12345670
129
130This starts the WPS negotiation in the same way as above with the
131generated PIN.
132
133
134If a random PIN is needed for a user interface, "wpa_cli wps_pin get"
135can be used to generate a new PIN without starting WPS negotiation.
136This random PIN can then be passed as an argument to another wps_pin
137call when the actual operation should be started.
138
139If the client design wants to support optional WPS PBC mode, this can
140be enabled by either a physical button in the client device or a
141virtual button in the user interface. The PBC operation requires that
142a button is also pressed at the AP/Registrar at about the same time (2
143minute window). wpa_supplicant is notified of the local button event
144over the control interface, e.g., by calling wpa_cli:
145
146wpa_cli wps_pbc
147
148At this point, the AP/Registrar has two minutes to complete WPS
149negotiation which will generate a new WPA PSK in the same way as the
150PIN method described above.
151
152
153If the client wants to operate in the Registrar role to learn the
154current AP configuration and optionally, to configure an AP,
155wpa_supplicant is notified over the control interface, e.g., with
156wpa_cli:
157
158wpa_cli wps_reg <AP BSSID> <AP PIN>
159(example: wpa_cli wps_reg 02:34:56:78:9a:bc 12345670)
160
161This is used to fetch the current AP settings instead of actually
162changing them. The main difference with the wps_pin command is that
163wps_reg uses the AP PIN (e.g., from a label on the AP) instead of a
164PIN generated at the client.
165
166In order to change the AP configuration, the new configuration
167parameters are given to the wps_reg command:
168
169wpa_cli wps_reg <AP BSSID> <AP PIN> <new SSID> <auth> <encr> <new key>
170examples:
171  wpa_cli wps_reg 02:34:56:78:9a:bc 12345670 testing WPA2PSK CCMP 12345678
172  wpa_cli wps_reg 02:34:56:78:9a:bc 12345670 clear OPEN NONE ""
173
174<auth> must be one of the following: OPEN WPAPSK WPA2PSK
175<encr> must be one of the following: NONE WEP TKIP CCMP
176
177
178Scanning
179--------
180
181Scan results ('wpa_cli scan_results' or 'wpa_cli bss <idx>') include a
182flags field that is used to indicate whether the BSS support WPS. If
183the AP support WPS, but has not recently activated a Registrar, [WPS]
184flag will be included. If PIN method has been recently selected,
185[WPS-PIN] is shown instead. Similarly, [WPS-PBC] is shown if PBC mode
186is in progress. GUI programs can use these as triggers for suggesting
187a guided WPS configuration to the user. In addition, control interface
188monitor events WPS-AP-AVAILABLE{,-PBC,-PIN} can be used to find out if
189there are WPS enabled APs in scan results without having to go through
190all the details in the GUI. These notification could be used, e.g., to
191suggest possible WPS connection to the user.
192
193
194wpa_gui
195-------
196
197wpa_gui-qt4 directory contains a sample GUI that shows an example of
198how WPS support can be integrated into the GUI. Its main window has a
199WPS tab that guides user through WPS registration with automatic AP
200selection. In addition, it shows how WPS can be started manually by
201selecting an AP from scan results.
202
203
204Credential processing
205---------------------
206
207By default, wpa_supplicant processes received credentials and updates
208its configuration internally. However, it is possible to
209control these operations from external programs, if desired.
210
211This internal processing can be disabled with wps_cred_processing=1
212option. When this is used, an external program is responsible for
213processing the credential attributes and updating wpa_supplicant
214configuration based on them.
215
216Following control interface messages are sent out for external programs:
217
218WPS-CRED-RECEIVED  <hexdump of Credential attribute(s)>
219For example:
220<2>WPS-CRED-RECEIVED 100e006f10260001011045000c6a6b6d2d7770732d74657374100300020020100f000200081027004030653462303435366332363666653064333961643135353461316634626637313234333761636664623766333939653534663166316230323061643434386235102000060266a0ee1727
221
222
223wpa_supplicant as WPS External Registrar (ER)
224---------------------------------------------
225
226wpa_supplicant can be used as a WPS ER to configure an AP or enroll
227new Enrollee to join the network. This functionality uses UPnP and
228requires that a working IP connectivity is available with the AP (this
229can be either over a wired or wireless connection).
230
231Separate wpa_supplicant process can be started for WPS ER
232operations. A special "none" driver can be used in such a case to
233indicate that no local network interface is actually controlled. For
234example, following command could be used to start the ER:
235
236wpa_supplicant -Dnone -c er.conf -ieth0
237
238Sample er.conf:
239
240ctrl_interface=DIR=/var/run/wpa_supplicant GROUP=admin
241device_name=WPS External Registrar
242
243
244wpa_cli commands for ER functionality:
245
246wps_er_start [IP address]
247- start WPS ER functionality
248- the optional IP address parameter can be used to filter operations only
249  to include a single AP
250- if run again while ER is active, the stored information (discovered APs
251  and Enrollees) are shown again
252
253wps_er_stop
254- stop WPS ER functionality
255
256wps_er_learn <UUID> <AP PIN>
257- learn AP configuration
258
259wps_er_set_config <UUID> <network id>
260- use AP configuration from a locally configured network (e.g., from
261  wps_reg command); this does not change the AP's configuration, but
262  only prepares a configuration to be used when enrolling a new device
263  to the AP
264
265wps_er_config <UUID> <AP PIN> <new SSID> <auth> <encr> <new key>
266- examples:
267  wps_er_config 87654321-9abc-def0-1234-56789abc0002 12345670 testing WPA2PSK CCMP 12345678
268  wpa_er_config 87654321-9abc-def0-1234-56789abc0002 12345670 clear OPEN NONE ""
269
270<auth> must be one of the following: OPEN WPAPSK WPA2PSK
271<encr> must be one of the following: NONE WEP TKIP CCMP
272
273
274wps_er_pbc <Enrollee UUID>
275- accept an Enrollee PBC using External Registrar
276
277wps_er_pin <Enrollee UUID> <PIN> [Enrollee MAC address]
278- add an Enrollee PIN to External Registrar
279- if Enrollee UUID is not known, "any" can be used to add a wildcard PIN
280- if the MAC address of the enrollee is known, it should be configured
281  to allow the AP to advertise list of authorized enrollees
282
283
284WPS ER events:
285
286WPS_EVENT_ER_AP_ADD
287- WPS ER discovered an AP
288
289WPS-ER-AP-ADD 87654321-9abc-def0-1234-56789abc0002 02:11:22:33:44:55 pri_dev_type=6-0050F204-1 wps_state=1 |Very friendly name|Company|Long description of the model|WAP|http://w1.fi/|http://w1.fi/hostapd/
290
291WPS_EVENT_ER_AP_REMOVE
292- WPS ER removed an AP entry
293
294WPS-ER-AP-REMOVE 87654321-9abc-def0-1234-56789abc0002
295
296WPS_EVENT_ER_ENROLLEE_ADD
297- WPS ER discovered a new Enrollee
298
299WPS-ER-ENROLLEE-ADD 2b7093f1-d6fb-5108-adbb-bea66bb87333 02:66:a0:ee:17:27 M1=1 config_methods=0x14d dev_passwd_id=0 pri_dev_type=1-0050F204-1 |Wireless Client|Company|cmodel|123|12345|
300
301WPS_EVENT_ER_ENROLLEE_REMOVE
302- WPS ER removed an Enrollee entry
303
304WPS-ER-ENROLLEE-REMOVE 2b7093f1-d6fb-5108-adbb-bea66bb87333 02:66:a0:ee:17:27
305
306WPS-ER-AP-SETTINGS
307- WPS ER learned AP settings
308
309WPS-ER-AP-SETTINGS uuid=fd91b4ec-e3fa-5891-a57d-8c59efeed1d2 ssid=test-wps auth_type=0x0020 encr_type=0x0008 key=12345678
310
311
312WPS with NFC
313------------
314
315WPS can be used with NFC-based configuration method. An NFC tag
316containing a password token from the Enrollee can be used to
317authenticate the connection instead of the PIN. In addition, an NFC tag
318with a configuration token can be used to transfer AP settings without
319going through the WPS protocol.
320
321When the station acts as an Enrollee, a local NFC tag with a password
322token can be used by touching the NFC interface of a Registrar.
323
324"wps_nfc [BSSID]" command starts WPS protocol run with the local end as
325the Enrollee using the NFC password token that is either pre-configured
326in the configuration file (wps_nfc_dev_pw_id, wps_nfc_dh_pubkey,
327wps_nfc_dh_privkey, wps_nfc_dev_pw) or generated dynamically with
328"wps_nfc_token <WPS|NDEF>" command. The included nfc_pw_token tool
329(build with "make nfc_pw_token") can be used to generate NFC password
330tokens during manufacturing (each station needs to have its own random
331keys).
332
333If the station includes NFC interface and reads an NFC tag with a MIME
334media type "application/vnd.wfa.wsc", the NDEF message payload (with or
335without NDEF encapsulation) can be delivered to wpa_supplicant using the
336following wpa_cli command:
337
338wps_nfc_tag_read <hexdump of payload>
339
340If the NFC tag contains a configuration token, the network is added to
341wpa_supplicant configuration. If the NFC tag contains a password token,
342the token is added to the WPS Registrar component. This information can
343then be used with wps_reg command (when the NFC password token was from
344an AP) using a special value "nfc-pw" in place of the PIN parameter. If
345the ER functionality has been started (wps_er_start), the NFC password
346token is used to enable enrollment of a new station (that was the source
347of the NFC password token).
348