Ubuntu
network-manager package

  1. Bug #1573856
  2. Comment #0

Comment 0 for bug 1573856

Revision history for this message
Paul Khomyakov (usuntw) wrote :

Ubuntu 16.04 bumped NetworkManager to version 1.0.93. Unlike 15.10 (with v1.0.4) and earlier NetworkManager now resets temporary mac of an interface to actual physical mac effectively disabling typical wifi anonymization technics.

Same issue is present in just released NetworkManager 1.2.

It appears that sometime between 1.0.10 and 1.0.93 there was a change in src/devices/wifi/nm-device-wifi.c from

 /* Set spoof MAC to the interface */
 cloned_mac = nm_setting_wireless_get_cloned_mac_address (s_wireless);
 if (cloned_mac)
  nm_device_set_hw_addr (device, cloned_mac, "set", LOGD_WIFI);
to

 /* Set spoof MAC to the interface */
 cloned_mac = nm_setting_wireless_get_cloned_mac_address (s_wireless);
 nm_device_set_hw_addr (device, cloned_mac, "set", LOGD_WIFI);

cloned_mac is NULL if not specified in NetworkManager GUI. When called with NULL nm_device_set_hw_addr sets the mac to physical mac of the interface.