Where are you hidden, hotel access point ?!


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I’m currently staying in Luxembourg for the Hack.lu event and got pretty surprised when I attempted to connect on the hotel’s WiFi:

Where are you hidden, hotel access point ?!: WiFi networks listWhere are you hidden, hotel access point ?!: WiFI networks list (2)

One access point per room ?!  Well, that’s a first for me.  It got even more intriguing when I had a look around in the room and couldn’t see any network equipment besides the phone:

Where are you hidden, hotel access point ?!: Network equipment in the room

Moving around with WiEye open to look at the signal strength evolution points towards direct proximity of the phone, but I still can’t see any device that looks like an AP.  Maybe it is hidden behind the wooden furniture of the room?

The TV uses a satellite decoder, so I doubt it’s the one broadcasting the WiFi.  There’s still the possibility it’s a single AP somewhere broadcasting multiple network using some crazy configuration.  A quick inspection with WiEye using my smartphone shows it’s not the case:

Where are you hidden, hotel access point ?!: Spectrum scan

Where are you hidden, hotel access point ?!: Wireless networks scan

However, that MAC OUI looks familiar.  A little Google search later, the plot thickens: all these access points are Android devices in AP mode !  Often, whenever there’s an AP, there’s a web interface.  Okay, let’s have a look at the computer’s IP settings:

Where are you hidden, hotel access point ?!: IP settings

I take my chance and try to access the GW IP address with a browser.  Bingo !  I had the AP in front of my eye since the beginning…  It’s a friggin’ desktop phone running Android and acting as an access point:

Where are you hidden, hotel access point ?!: IP Phone web interface

Where are you hidden, hotel access point ?!: WiFi AP settings

You can even browse the web from the phone !  Those glorious 56k modems days where you couldn’t phone and browse are definitely gone…

Where are you hidden, hotel access point ?!: Who said you can't phone and browse?

Then, what’s that little black device between the wall Ethernet plug and the phone ?  It’s a Long Reach Ethernet to standard Ethernet adapter, basically used to transport Ethernet & Power over long distances:

Where are you hidden, hotel access point ?!: Long Range Ethernet adapter

Had I had a PoE splitter with me, I could have connected my laptop directly to the hotel’s network.  I don’t know what to make of it. On one hand, I find that an extremely clever way to deploy WiFi without having a single overloaded AP for all the rooms, like you often see.  We’ve all experienced that situation where a hotel WiFi was completely unusable due to overcrowding.

But, on the other hand, it’s deployed in a totally unsecure way.  I’m what you could call a “white hat” guy.  I like to understand how things work and how they can be broken, but I don’t take any pleasure in breaking other people’s stuff just for the hell of it.  But someone with a more evil approach of life could easily mess up the complete network.

Just imagine how many credentials could be sniffed with a Rogue IPv6 RA + TLS intercept + NAT64/DNS64 setup…

Disclaimer: I willingly didn’t disclose the name of hotel nor its location, and stripped EXIF data from the photos.  I’m not encouraging anyone to hack into anybody’s hotel, I just want to highlight how easily a good idea can be implemented in a very insecure way.  Don’t be that guy every traveler hates!