MAC Address
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MAC Address Spoofing and Tracking Threats
MAC Address Documentation[edit]
- Introduction: Whonix Documentation Introduction, User Expectations, Footnotes and References, User Expectations - What Documentation Is and What It Is Not
- Whonix is based on Kicksecure™: Whonix inherits many features and principles from Kicksecure.
- Kicksecure is based on Debian: Kicksecure builds upon the stability of Debian.
- Inheritance: Therefore, Whonix is also based on Debian.
- Debian is GNU/Linux-based: Debian primarily uses the GNU/Linux as its foundation.
- Shared documentation benefits: Because one distribution is based on another:
- Inherited documentation: Little specific documentation is required for each layer.
- Shared principles: Features and principles often remain consistent across forks. Users can often follow the same instructions for both Whonix and Kicksecure.
- Keep using Whonix: This does not mean the user should switch to Kicksecure.
- Where to apply the instructions: The instructions should be applied inside Whonix.
- Wiki editors notice: This box is wiki template upstream_wiki. (Pages that link to it.)
- Comparison: Whonix versus Kicksecure
- Documentation compatibility: Since Whonix is based on Kicksecure, the user can follow these instructions for
MAC Address
. Apply the instructions inside Whonix, not Kicksecure. - Note: Re-interpretation...
Kicksecure: Perform these steps inside Kicksecure.
Instead the user should apply the instructions inside Whonix-Workstation.
Kicksecure for Qubes: Perform these steps inside Qubes
kicksecure-17Template.
Instead the user should apply the instructions inside whonix-workstation-17 Template.
Auto-connect Risk[edit]
Apart from the difficulty in creating an appropriate MAC address for spoofing purposes, there are also technical hurdles to overcome in the form of preventing automatic network connections.
It is futile to prepare a spoofed MAC address if the computer instantly connects to the public network after booting, disclosing the user's real MAC address in the process:
- Physical Isolation: Whonix-Gateway™ automatically connects to Tor after start.
- USB Wi-FI Device: Automatic connections might also occur, depending on the configuration.
- VM users: The host operating system most likely automatically connects via updates, perhaps time sync, and other avenues.
Other Location Tracking Risks[edit]
Tor Entry Guard Fingerprinting[edit]
Dealing with the MAC address problem is only one piece of the larger location tracking puzzle. Users must also contend with changing the usual Tor entry guards used for connections across different locations, in order to prevent guard fingerprinting. To mitigate this threat, follow one of the recommended configurations:
- Clone Whonix-Gateway (sys-whonix) with New Entry Guards.
- Regenerate the Tor State File after Saving the Current Tor State.
- Configure Tor to use Alternating Bridges.
- If moving to a new location permanently, create Fresh Tor Entry Guards by Regenerating the Tor State File.
To fully thwart this threat, entry guard changes are necessary for every Tor instance on the user's machine host (apt-transport-tor) and guest.
Using Personal Computers in a Public Network[edit]
This refers to using a personal laptop, desktop or any other Internet-facing device in a public network.
In this scenario, the MAC address must be changed and a new set of Tor entry guards should also be configured. [1] Attempts should be made to disguise the use of Tor from the administrator of the public network. Depending on the user's configuration, this may involve using an obfsproxy bridge or the tunneling of traffic through SSH or a VPN prior to connecting to the Tor network.
Depending on the user's threat model, changing the MAC address and using Tor might rule out revisiting that public network again in the future. If the same public network will be reused, then it is necessary to decide whether to use the same MAC address (and set of Tor entry guards) or to generate a new one.
If MAC address logging by the administrator is suspected, it is unwise to change the MAC address and arouse suspicion. If it is assessed the network is sufficiently public and observation is unlikely, then it might be safe to use a new MAC address -- with a popular vendor ID and random/unique second part (identifier) -- each time the network is used.
For further discussion on this rather complex topic, see Dev/MAC.
Changing MAC Addresses[edit]
Whonix[edit]
TODO: please help to test and improve these instructions.
1. Edit the network interfaces file.
- Standard-Whonix-Version (VM) users: Edit /etc/network/interfaces on the host.
- Physical Isolation users: Edit /etc/network/interfaces on Whonix-Gateway.
2. Install macchanger.
In a terminal, run.
su
apt update && apt install macchanger
3. Change the MAC address.
The following steps will manually change the MAC address for the device. An example is provided for a wireless device (wlan0). Replace wlan0 to match the device being spoofed, such as an ethernet device (eth0) and so on.
su
ifconfig wlan0 down
macchanger -a wlan0
ifconfig wlan0 up
If instructions from Step 1+ did not work, the following steps might also work without macchanger. Replace wlan0 to match the specific device.
su
ifconfig wlan0 down
ifconfig wlan0 hw ether 00:AA:BB:CC:DD:EE
ifconfig wlan0 up
Or use iproute2 commands to change the MAC address. ip link set down wlan0
ip link set wlan0 address 00:AA:BB:CC:DD:EE
ip link set up wlan0
4. Complete the MAC address change.
Below iface eth0 inet dhcp, add.
hwaddress ether 00:00....
5. Optional: Automatically randomize the MAC address on boot.
If this is desired, add.
pre-up macchanger -e eth0
6. Change new network interfaces settings.
To prevent new network interfaces being brought up automatically, comment the following.
auto eth0
Then configure manual bring ups with the following setting.
sudo ifup eth0
References[edit]
- ↑ This process involves removal of the /var/lib/tor/state file.
License[edit]
Whonix MAC Address wiki page Copyright (C) Amnesia <amnesia at boum dot org>
Whonix MAC Address wiki page Copyright (C) 2012 - 2024 ENCRYPTED SUPPORT LP <adrelanos(at)whonix.org(Replace(at)with@.)Please DO NOT use e-mail for one of the following reasons: Private Contact: Please avoid e-mail whenever possible. (Private Communications Policy) User Support Questions: No. (See Support.) Leaks Submissions: No. (No Leaks Policy) Sponsored posts: No. Paid links: No. SEO reviews: No. >This program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details see the wiki source code.
This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it under certain conditions; see the wiki source code for details.
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