About @#$%ing time...

Microsoft has finally released a Hotfix for the Windows XP Wireless Client, and all I can say is that it is about friggin' time. Internet Storm Center has a description of the Hotfix HERE. Among other things, this fix addresses one of the most annoying things (from a Windows XP wireless perspective) I've encountered in a long time: the random Windows XP wireless network. If you've ever used Kismet in the vicinity of Windows XP machines, you know what I'm talking about. Not only does XP continue to cycle through its list of preferred wireless networks (leaks far too much information and makes it waaaaaaay too easy to determine whose laptop you're looking at), but you also get the weird random SSID strings. If you just let Kismet run for days or weeks at a time, it isn't at all uncommon to have a list of several hundred or even several thousand probe requests just because of this odd XP behavior. Here's a little piece from the Hotfix page:

In Windows XP with Service Pack 2, Wireless Auto Configuration tries to match preferred wireless networks to wireless networks that broadcast their network name. If no network matches a preferred wireless network, Wireless Auto Configuration sends probe requests to determine whether the preferred networks are nonbroadcast networks. In this manner, a Windows XP wireless client advertises its list of preferred wireless networks. An observer may monitor these probe requests and configure a wireless network by using a name that matches a preferred wireless network. If the wireless network is not secured, this network could enable unauthorized connections to the computer.

I understand Microsoft's intent in designing their wireless client to work this way. Obviously, they are trying to make the connection to wireless networks easy. They've made it easy at the expense of security. And on an OS that is notoriously difficult to protect without extensive 3rd party software.

By strange coincidence, this Hotfix was released almost to the day of the 5th anniversary of the release of Windows XP. This unusual wireless behavior has been a known issue since that time. Why in the world did it take 5 years to release a fix for this? Ok, I grant you that some of the other things that this Hotfix addresses weren't big issues 5 years ago. But that strange "parking" behavior? C'mon. If I'm a Bad Guy, all I have to do is sit in the parking lot with Kismet running and listen for Windows XP machines to start cycling through their list of preferred networks. Depending upon the number and frequency of these probes, I can start making some fairly educated guesses about these wireless clients, and with a little extra effort on my part, I could setup my trusty Linux laptop in AP mode and start trying to trick unsuspecting users into connecting to me, at which time I can start collecting usernames and passwords and whatnot. If I'm so inclined, I can then take this information and compare it to data that I pull down from WiGLE and I can even start making guesses about where these users are located and places they frequent, based solely on this hemorraghing of information from the Windows XP Wireless Client. If you use Windows XP wirelessly, install this Hotfix immediately. In addition, be very careful with who you are talking to wirelessly. You never know who might be listening.