Vulnerability Discussion

The use of wireless networking can introduce many different attack vectors into the organization's network. Common attack vectors such as malicious association and ad hoc networks will allow an attacker to spoof a wireless access point (AP), allowing validated systems to connect to the malicious AP and enabling the attacker to monitor and record network traffic. These malicious APs can also serve to create a man-in-the-middle attack or be used to create a denial of service to valid network resources.

Check

Verify that there are no wireless interfaces configured on the system.

This is N/A for systems that do not have wireless network adapters.

Check for the presence of active wireless interfaces with the following command:

# nmcli device
DEVICE TYPE STATE
eth0 ethernet connected
wlp3s0 wifi disconnected
lo loopback unmanaged

If a wireless interface is configured and its use on the system is not documented with the Information System Security Officer (ISSO), this is a finding.

Fix

Configure the system to disable all wireless network interfaces with the following command:

#nmcli radio wifi off