I’m fairly new to wireless security testing and I’m having an odd issue with handshake captures that I can’t figure out.
Environment
Kali Linux
Tools: airmon-ng, airodump-ng, aireplay-ng
Adapter: Alfa AC1900 (802.11ac)
Testing my own network only
Problem
I cannot capture a usable WPA2 handshake on:
My own Wi-Fi (WPA2-PSK, Wi-Fi 5 / 802.11ac)
Other test networks using Wi-Fi 5 + WPA2
Using the same setup, I can capture a handshake on a Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) network
This seems backwards to me, which is why I’m stuck.
Details
airodump-ng shows a handshake when it occurs
The Wi-Fi 6 handshake will not crack with:
rockyou.txt
Larger wordlists
aircrack-ng / hashcat
I understand that may just mean the passphrase is strong, but I want to make sure the capture itself is valid
Things I’ve already checked
Monitor mode enabled correctly
Interface locked to correct channel
Targeting active clients
Confirmed deauths are being sent (when applicable)
Questions
Are there known driver or firmware issues with the Alfa AC1900 and WPA2 handshakes on Wi-Fi 5?
Could this be related to:
PMF / 802.11w?
Router chipset quirks?
Client behavior (fast roaming, caching, etc.)?
Is it possible the handshake I’m capturing on Wi-Fi 6 is incomplete or not crackable?
Any recommended driver versions, patches, or verification methods I should be using?
I’m trying to learn this properly and understand why the behavior differs between Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6. Any insight from people with more experience would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Environment
Kali Linux
Tools: airmon-ng, airodump-ng, aireplay-ng
Adapter: Alfa AC1900 (802.11ac)
Testing my own network only
Problem
I cannot capture a usable WPA2 handshake on:
My own Wi-Fi (WPA2-PSK, Wi-Fi 5 / 802.11ac)
Other test networks using Wi-Fi 5 + WPA2
Using the same setup, I can capture a handshake on a Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) network
This seems backwards to me, which is why I’m stuck.
Details
airodump-ng shows a handshake when it occurs
The Wi-Fi 6 handshake will not crack with:
rockyou.txt
Larger wordlists
aircrack-ng / hashcat
I understand that may just mean the passphrase is strong, but I want to make sure the capture itself is valid
Things I’ve already checked
Monitor mode enabled correctly
Interface locked to correct channel
Targeting active clients
Confirmed deauths are being sent (when applicable)
Questions
Are there known driver or firmware issues with the Alfa AC1900 and WPA2 handshakes on Wi-Fi 5?
Could this be related to:
PMF / 802.11w?
Router chipset quirks?
Client behavior (fast roaming, caching, etc.)?
Is it possible the handshake I’m capturing on Wi-Fi 6 is incomplete or not crackable?
Any recommended driver versions, patches, or verification methods I should be using?
I’m trying to learn this properly and understand why the behavior differs between Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6. Any insight from people with more experience would be appreciated.
Thanks.
