Exploring wireless device driver vulnerabilities

IEEE 802.11 set of standards grew from a highly obscured and unsecured technology to a robust and reliable solution for many of us. Broad acceptance and relatively simple implementation also made 802.11 a perfect target for possible exploitation. Recently discovered wireless driver vulnerabilities exposed a new critical threat that legitimate users community is facing. What makes this vulnerability so dangerous to many of us is the fact that the actual exploitation cannot be prevented by commonly used tools such as firewalls, antivirus, and intrusion detection system´s programs. Access to the victims machine is gained through a flawed third-party wireless driver, giving full kernel level access rights to the attacker. While kernel-level exploitation domain covers everything running beneath the operating systems, this paper describes wireless device drivers vulnerability and proposes methods for vulnerability mitigations. This paper would assist IT professionals in evaluating, creating, and assessing security requirements associated with wireless networks connectivity.