802.11 monitor mode on Android without root using external USB Wi-Fi card.

[Bryce Thomas]

Hi all,

I thought this may be of interest.  I'm a PhD student at James Cook University in Townsville QLD Australia.  My research interests are in the areas of Content-centric networking as applied to MANETs / P2P dissemination of content between wireless devices.

As a part of my studies I've ported some of the Linux kernel space ALFA AWUS036H USB Wi-Fi card driver over to Android user space.  Enough of the driver that is to get the ALFA AWUS036H into monitor mode and bytes flowing into my app, liber80211.  What this essentially means is, monitor mode on Android, without root.  I've just open-sourced the code.  You can find more details/links at http://bryce-thomas.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/introducing-liber80211.html .  

I must admit I am not overly familiar with the precise details of the serval project implementation.   I do get the impression though that one of the frustrations may be having to work around the artificial constraints placed on wireless transmissions and reception that's inherent in most consumer (especially non-rooted) devices.  Hence why I thought this may be of interest.  I browse this mailing list every now and then, and see a lot of discussion centered around ad-hoc mode, which correct me if I'm wrong, is about the best you can hope for on a non-rooted Android device, and even then, only if you're lucky.

A bit of food for thought - would monitor mode/packet injection on a non-rooted Android phone lower the barrier to entry and enable you to do things you currently cannot do?  Again, I'm only a casual observer of the Serval project at this point, so those working on it right now are in a better position to ruminate on this.  My implementation does not do packet injection at the present point in time, though it looks likely to be feasible, given that the ALFA AWUS036H supports it.  The other issue with my implementation is that although the ALFA AWUS036H is quite a good card and more or less the de facto for 802.11 pentesting, it is still fairly bulky.  Again, food for thought, but what if you could plug something the size of this edimax receiver into a phone instead: http://galeri.pclabs.com.tr/cache/edimax-nano-usb-adaptoer/img_1494_600.jpg .  The edimax is purported to support monitor mode/packet injection (though potentially has a terrible antenna), so may in theory be another alternative with the right user space driver.  Even the smallest USB OTG adapter would likely add a few centimeters http://i.ebayimg.com/t/5-Pin-Micro-USB-Male-OTG-to-USB2-0-Female-Convertor-Adapter-for-MID-Smartphone-/00/s/MTQxMVgxNjAw/$T2eC16FHJI!E9qSO8J!6BQVshhRls!~~60_35.JPG, but the whole setup may still be reasonable enough in size to carry around in your pocket.  And you wouldn't need to root the phone...

Anyway, not sure if this will be of interest, but thought I would post in case.

Cheers, Bryce.

[Paul Gardner-Stephen]

Hi Bryce,

Most interesting work. Certainly the artificial barriers to packet
transmission and reception on Android WiFi is a field of hurt and pain
for us. Your approach of using USB2GO is an interesting one, and the
ability of it to work without root is quite intriguing.

Would be interested in having a chat with you about your PhD work as
well, as I think there is some clear interaction between that and what
we are doing with Serval Rhizome.

Paul.

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[Bryce Thomas]

Sure.  Shoot me an email bryce.m...@gmail.com.

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