11 ms·
Airpass – Easily overcome WiFi time limits
- o_____________o 1y agoAlternatively for Mac, https://github.com/halo/LinkLiar https://github.com/halo/LinkLiar
- visiondude 1y ago^ seems like the way to go. open source and more features.
- mannyv 1y agoIf you really want to screw with these set your MAC address to 00:00:00:00:00:00 It’s an illegal address, but most equipment will take it because test devices occasionally come from the factory with that MAC. But higher level stuff might barf on it because it’s technically illegal.
- totetsu 1y agoI tired this once and it bypassed the captive portal and time limits entirely
- varenc 1y agoalas, macOS refuses: $ sudo ifconfig en0 ether 00:00:00:00:00:01 ifconfig: ioctl (SIOCAIFADDR): Can't assign requested address edit: but this worked on my external NIC! Network wasn't happy though and DHCP didn't work. Ubiquiti had a funny note about this MAC: "Officially Xerox, but 0:0:0:0:0:0 is more common"
- mannyv 1y agoIf you stash the IP/netmask/router IP you might be able to get it to work by setting a static IP on the connection with a 0 MAC address. As always, ymmv. On some equipment this may cause a broadcast storm, depending on how they implement things. Cisco equipment with some configs will send a packet to all the ports if it receives a packet and can't figure out where it's supposed to go.
- polivier 1y agoOn Linux you can use `macchanger` to change your MAC address from the terminal.
- purplehat_ 1y agoHere's an equivalent little script for Debian Linux (but should work on most distros), based on classhasclass's comment: NEW_MAC=$(printf '02:%02x:%02x:%02x:%02x:%02x\n' $((RANDOM%256)) $((RANDOM%256)) $((RANDOM%256)) $((RANDOM%256)) $((RANDOM%256))) sudo ip link set wlan0 down sudo ip link set wlan0 address "$NEW_MAC" sudo ip link set wlan0 up You should replace `wlan0` with whatever you see in `ip link show` for your wireless interface, for me it is `wlp0s20f3`. I replaced the `openssl rand` command because it was generating some invalid MACs; this is hopefully only valid ones.
- righthand 1y agoKDE Plasma has a “Random” button next to the MAC address field in the Network Manager UI. I’m on Debian Testing so not sure when it was added.
- netik 1y agoThe trivial defense against this is time limited passwords for Wifi access. Deny all access until a valid password is entered, only permit that password and MAC address pair for n minutes. Buy a coffee, get a new password, etc.
- pimlottc 1y agoOn a technical level it’s trivial, but you’re taking about having a shop replace their wifi router and/or update firmware, create some way for staff to see the current password and/or integrate with POS systems to print it on the receipt, update signage, etc. Hardly trivial for the average non-techie business owner.
- reaperducer 1y agoSo "trivial" that this is how it was done years ago, but then coffee shops gave up on it because it turned it not to be so trivial after all. Their employees' time is more effectively spent making coffee than repeatedly providing low-level tech support for random password problems.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- nixpulvis 1y agoI used to use this little macOS script at coffee shops. https://gist.github.com/nixpulvis/d83c0ae70a4c3a06797b https://gist.github.com/nixpulvis/d83c0ae70a4c3a06797b
- deadbabe 1y agoThis is so unethical and no one gives a fuck, society crumbles when people just feel entitled to take more than their fair share.
- chrisfosterelli 1y agoThis is hacker news. Hacker ethos is rooted in the intellectual challenge of overcoming software systems and electronic hardware. It's the same ethos that stole long distance phone minutes, traded warez, and got free satellite channels. You don't have to do those things but you probably won't convince those who do that their 20 extra minutes of wifi will be the downfall of society.
- gsibble 1y ago[flagged]
- bigfatkitten 1y agoIn reality it’s mostly VC/Big Tech news. Hacker ethos isn’t something we see much of around here.
- gsibble 1y agoAgreed.
- vachina 1y agoI used to strap 20 virtual eths to my Linux box because my dorm gave only like 512kbps per account, and then aggregated the 20 interfaces.
- deanc 1y agoA few years ago I saw a tip somewhere here on how to scan which MAC addresses are connected to nearby wifi and hijack their mac address and steal their internet connection.
- balls187 1y agoHaven’t ever encountered any place that had a wifi time limit. In the late 2000’s internet cafes had time limits but that was enforced on their own devices. Is there a specific scenario where time limited wifi is common place?
- mcshicks 1y agoI think the name refers to the limits some airlines have. JAL for instance offers one hour free on some flights.
- andy99 1y agoI was trying to understand how this could be used for flights. I've seen either having to enter your last name and seat, or loyalty plan number to get in-flight wifi. Are there really airline wifis that give every mac address a free amount of time? A lot of airlines now offer free "messaging" - usually just text on common messaging apps like WhatsApp. I've been meaning for years to write some kind of server that could give me useful functionality over chat messages.
- mcshicks 1y agoPretty sure it will work on JAL at least right now. They just asked for an email. But it was also a new service so maybe to wanted people to try it. It occurred to me at the time that two devices with two emails should work for twice as long. For what I wanted to do on that flight, i.e. check and send a few messages the one free hour was fine. But yeah of course they could change it so that would not work.
- userbinator 1y agoI've been meaning for years to write some kind of server that could give me useful functionality over chat messages. Already done: WhatsApp: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33568994 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33568994 Facebook Messenger: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9203946 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9203946 SMS(!): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8304409 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8304409
- caioluders 1y agoSome python that clones other people mac + random https://github.com/caioluders/mac_auto_cloner https://github.com/caioluders/mac_auto_cloner
- alpenbazi 1y ago[flagged]
- lrvick 1y agoSolved problem on linux for decades: https://gothub.dev.projectsegfau.lt/alobbs/macchanger https://gothub.dev.projectsegfau.lt/alobbs/macchanger
- rafram 1y agoYes it’s not like this is the first tool to do this on macOS; e.g., https://github.com/acrogenesis/macchanger https://github.com/acrogenesis/macchanger
- ClawsOnPaws 1y agoSince this is only available for mac, couldn't this fairly easily be solved with shortcuts?
- johnebgd 1y agoReminds me of Perfigo Smart Access before Cisco bought them. Network security with a MAC address whitelist. If you knew a whitelisted computer you’d have the same access it permitted. This was back before captive portal took off…
- satellite2 1y agoFantastic. Now we're promoting script kiddies scamming airlines. That's a new low for hn
- phyzome 1y agoThose poor airlines!
- Beijinger 1y agoLike macchanger under Linux since 20 years? Must be cool to have an Apple I guess.
- tptacek 1y agoOr you could just comply with the terms you tacitly agree to when using these services. Use this stuff or don't, but if you do, you don't get to complain about GPL infringement anymore.
- jmtulloss 1y agoThis is exactly how I managed to get my dorm room’s internet turned off in college. My roommate was unimpressed with my cleverness.
- shlomo_z 1y agoCan you tell us more about it? I am so curious! (Edit: punctuation)
- gsibble 1y agoWOAH. MAC address spoofing is some old school stuff. I got in trouble for it in college. I didn't realize you could spoof MAC addresses on....well....a Mac but it's not something I'd do lightly.
- gsibble 1y agoIf this site was really hackers, this wouldn't be considered news.
- neilv 1y agoThis kind of thing can be a useful tool, including for privacy&security use cases that the page doesn't mention. But be conscious and thoughtful when using it. Some terms to consider whether they apply to a particular use include "unauthorized access", "circumvention", and "theft of service".
- josh_carterPDX 1y agoThis reminded me of an old app that would scan the MAC addresses of devices already connected to a paid WiFi network. You would then just change your MAC to one that already paid for the WiFi, and then reset it once you were done.
- bibelo 1y agotried that in a hotel in Paris and it worked
- WJW 1y agoWouldn't that lead to interference with the original device using that MAC address? Ie both of you getting packets meant for the other etc?
- rafram 1y agoYes. It’s a bad (maybe even illegal?) thing to do. The victim device will start losing packets, and it’ll look to them like the network is just unreliable. Eventually they give up and disconnect, and you take full control.
- bongodongobob 1y agoYeah. I think any network with STP/anti-flapping enabled will shut that down pretty quickly though.
- delfugal 1y agoAirPass? I had that wrong. Maybe because I just had lunch.
- curtisszmania 1y ago[dead]
- cactusplant7374 1y agoDoesn't Mac already have this with rotating MAC addresses? I also ran into an access point that detected this and required me to turn it off to continue.
- myself248 1y agoI wonder how it detected it. Perhaps the randomly-generated ones are mostly in invalid/unassigned MAC space?
- jasongill 1y agoThere is a "local bit" in MAC addresses per RFC 7042, so MAC addresses that have their second character as E, A, 2 or 6 are "local" which effectively means "randomly selected by software". So my current macOS selected MAC address of 16:6a:d2:20:e6:eb is "local" due to the second digit in the address being 6
- boston_clone 1y agoI had no idea about this; generally i thought it was done by OUI like the GP suggested - they have a small cached table of valid OUIs and warn on prefixes not in that subset. Thanks for sharing!
- bapak 1y agoOof, I wonder if this is the reason why I constantly have issues with my M1 Mac connecting to cafe hotspots. Regularly I find places that let me connect and then kick me off less than a minute later.
- classichasclass 1y agoAlternatively, if you don't want to run the whole Electron app, the money is this line: sudo.exec("/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/Resources/airport en0 -z && ifconfig en0 ether `openssl rand -hex 6 | sed 's/\(..\)/\1:/g; s/.$//'`",
- paxys 1y ago200 bytes for the business logic. 47MB for the UI & boilerplate around the business logic. I get that this may be the easiest way to develop and publish an application today, but it's sad that this is the direction we have taken in recent years.
- ryandrake 1y agoI so strongly wish more developers gave even a single shit about this. The current state of desktop app development is truly an embarrassment.
- malnourish 1y agoWho is embarrassed? What are the realized harms?
- PaulHoule 1y agoMicrosoft seems to have given up on guidance for how to write desktop apps, Windows 8 had that Metro thing that got rejected by the world. I guess you could use Win32, WinForms, WPF or something else. The incoherence is second only to the Linux world, I remember how developers were crazy about theming in Win32 in the ‘95 age so something like Back Orifice or the app for your scanner looks atrocious. WPF added really great support for theming but at the point everybody was burned out in theming so it hardly ever got used.
- chuckadams 1y agoMetro goes back to Windows XP Media Center, and frankly was one of the best UIs ever. Also used by the very underappreciated Zune (which was not helped by its drab hardware design or MS's PlayForSureWeMeanItThisTime DRM)
- avidiax 1y agoI feel this would be more useful as a utility to manage your MAC addresses. That would let you, for example, clone a MAC address or IP address between your computer and a phone, and maybe automatically resolve contention. That way, you can split purchased WiFi (such as on a plane) between multiple devices.
- jagged-chisel 1y agoThat’s only going to work on one device at a time. Don’t think that your phone and laptop with identically MAC addresses are going to magically share the connection.
- userbinator 1y agoThat way, you can split purchased WiFi (such as on a plane) between multiple devices. You need a router for that, which fortunately is built in to most phones and computers these days.
- ndgold 1y agoNice little helper friend
- kazinator 1y agoThis has been an option in Android network settings forever: randomize your MAC. I think it's enabled by default now? It's a basic privacy feature; you can be fingerprinted by your device's MAC.
- alt227 1y agoHow does that work with MAC address conflicts and clashes? I naively thought every MAC address had to be unique.
- diggan 1y agoThere are like 50 trillion possible addresses, unlikely to clash in one network :)
- BobbyTables2 1y agoThey must be unique in a LAN segment. And only the lower 3 bytes in a MAC are “unique” as the upper 3 are the vendor ID and relatively fixed. In practice people put fewer than 256 devices on networks (class C), so they have less than 1/65536 possibility of complete failure. And far less because they have a mix of OUIs. But yeah, if you put a few hundred or thousand security cameras or other device from a single vendor, all on the same network, conflicts are certainly possible. MAC conflicts are also a bit nasty to troubleshoot, and less obvious than IP conflicts.
- kazinator 1y agoIf your configuration doesn't randomize the MAC, that doesn't guarantee you won't be involved in a conflict. It only guarantees that it will go more badly for you, since you will be waiting on the other device to change their MAC before you get working networking. Whereas if yours is randomized, you will probably be okay after one reconnect. MAC randomization does not have to constrain itself to the lower three bytes; you can randomize the OUI too. What does Android MAC randomization do with the OUI? According to this possible hallucination from Google Gemini 2.5 Flash, the OUI is partially randomized too: - Locally Administered Bit (U/L bit): This bit (the 2nd LSB of the first octet) is forced to '1'. - Unicast/Multicast Bit (I/G bit): The least significant bit (LSB) of the first octet is usually set to '0' to indicate a unicast address. - Remaining OUI bits (and the entire lower three bytes): All the other bits in the MAC address, including the remaining bits of the first octet, the entire second and third octets (which are part of the OUI), and the entire last three octets, are randomized. Me again: So if two bits are fixed, everyone in the randomized space is randomizing 46 bits, which contains 7.03E+13 addresses. Practically speaking, it seems that the only way you will ever see a clash arising from the above randomization strategy is if two devices are using the same very poorly seeded PRNG.
- ammar2 1y agoGlad this feature is built into most modern operating systems these days. For MacOS (Sequoia+) you can just forget the network and reconnect to get a new MAC address [1]. Android's documentation for if it decides to generate a new address per connection is a little vague [2], but I'm guessing forgetting and reconnecting works as well, you may also need to flip the "Wi-Fi non-persistent MAC randomization" bit in developer settings. On Windows, flipping the "Random hardware address" switch seems to cause it to generate a new seed/address for me. [1] https://support.apple.com/en-euro/102509 https://support.apple.com/en-euro/102509 [2] https://source.android.com/docs/core/connect/wifi-mac-randomization-behavior#non-persistent https://source.android.com/docs/core/connect/wifi-mac-random...
- km3r 1y agoYeah I had to flip the developer setting toggle, but worked flawlessly for my flight (American Airlines has a watch an ad for 20 minutes of free internet that only works once per MAC)
- fendale 1y agoAre you saying that on IOS 18 if you enable developer mode then each time you forgot the network it gets a new Mac? But without developer mode it does not get a new Mac each time you forget it? The Apple docs linked elsewhere in this thread suggest it only gets a new Mac once per 24 hours when you forget the network normally. I’m going on a long boat trip in the next week where this trick might work for me if so!
- bapak 1y agoI think the rotating address is limited to 3, right? The script here generates one at random.
- lxgr 1y agoPer [1], this only works once per 24 hours on new iOS/macOS versions, and only once per two weeks on older ones though.
- userbinator 1y ago
- glerk 1y agoAlternatively, disconnect from the wifi, use this command and reconnect: sudo ifconfig en0 ether 02:11:22:33:44:55 Just ran into this on icelandair.
- pcl 1y agoThat’ll buy you one new turn of the crank; you’ll need to change numbers once every expiration period.
- glerk 1y agoPretty sure the electron app has the same limitation (popover notification says “join the network again for free wifi”, besides you wouldn’t be able to change the mac address if the network interface were actively in use)
- boston_clone 1y agoCan you not manually set your MAC address in the network configuration portion of macOS settings anymore? Does this not accomplish that same task, just with an abstracted layer of “randomness” for address generation? Another commenter already de-bloated the entire application into a bash one-liner
- jagged-chisel 1y ago“Randomness” and “one less thing for me to think about”
- crustycoder 1y agoOn android it can be toggled on If Developer Options are enabled.