Ethical Hacking Essentials Practice Test

Identify the technique employed by an attacker who forces Nonce reuse in the WPA2 protocol's handshake process.

1. Man-in-the-middle attack

2. Key reinstallation attack

3. Packet sniffing

4. Session hijacking

The correct answer is: Key reinstallation attack

The technique of forcing nonce reuse in the WPA2 protocol's handshake process is best described by the key reinstallation attack. In this context, the attacker manipulates the handshake by tricking an access point (AP) or a client into reinstalling an already used key. This is possible due to vulnerabilities in the way the WPA2 handshake was designed, specifically how it manages nonce values and session keys. During a normal WPA2 handshake, a nonce is intended to be unique for each session to ensure that each encryption key generated is different. However, if an attacker successfully performs a key reinstallation attack, they can force the nonce to be reused. This allows them to derive the same encryption key that was initially used. As a result, the attacker gains the ability to decrypt traffic that should otherwise be secure, effectively compromising the integrity and confidentiality of the communication. The other options presented involve different attack strategies. A man-in-the-middle attack typically involves intercepting communications between two parties rather than manipulating nonces. Packet sniffing is the act of monitoring and capturing network traffic but doesn’t imply manipulation of the encryption process. Finally, session hijacking involves taking over an active session but does not directly relate to nonce reuse. Each of these techniques has its own method