Re: Denial of Service Vulnerability in IEEE 802.11 Wireless Devices

[Casper Dik <casper () holland sun com>]

>       An attack against this vulnerability exploits the CCA function at
>       the physical layer and causes all WLAN nodes within range, both
>       clients and access points (AP), to defer transmission of data for
>       the duration of the attack. When under attack, the device behaves
>       as if the channel is always busy, preventing the transmission of
>       any data over the wireless network.
>
>       Previously, attacks against the availability of IEEE 802.11
>       networks have required specialised hardware and relied on the
>       ability to saturate the wireless frequency with high-power
>       radiation, an avenue not open to discreet attack. This
>       vulnerability makes a successful, low cost attack against a
>       wireless network feasible for a semi-skilled attacker.


In last year's Usenix security symposium an attack which
looked very much like one in the first paragraph was performed
agains tthe audience (immediate linkloss was the result of the
presenter pressing a button on his laptop).

This was with with plain COTS components, so what is different
with this attack or is it the same attack rediscovered?
I don't remember it getting any press.

Casper