Management and control frames

Management frames and control frames in wireless networks are used to establish and maintain communication between two wireless devices. Typically, wireless clients send probe request frames to check for the presence of preferred networks. Once the preferred wireless network is identified, authentication takes place and then the association frames are used to complete the joining process. Even if encryption techniques, such as WEP, WPA, or WPA2, are configured and utilized on the wireless network, management frames are not encrypted, and thus, anyone in range of the AP and capable of sniffing can capture the traffic and analyze it later. Management frames do not contain sensitive information, nor is any client data passed using them. You would then assume that there is no harm in sending these frames, which handle the setup and teardown of connections, in the clear. This assumption is false, and these frames can be spoofed and manipulated by an attacker, which...