Google removes WPS support from Android P


WPS

Google has killed the support for Wi-Fi Protected Setup authentication mode in Android P. It is a protocol that allows a client Wi-Fi device to connect to a router using a PIN or a push-button. This, however, isn’t considered to be very secure.

The pin-based authentication is crackable with a brute force attack, and the PIN mode is required to be enabled by default on routers with WPS support. With Android P, Google seems to be planning on removing the feature for good. Users started noticing the change in Google Issue Tracker related to WPS that are now marked as deprecated (no longer supported). This led to the speculation that Google might not bring back the feature once P releases publically.

WPS suport has been deprecated from Client mode and this method will immediately triggerWifiManager.WpsCallback.onFailed(int) with a generic error.

With WPS being a security issue, and many new routers are eliminating the feature entirely, Google removing the feature OS-level makes sense. The feature was introduced a decade ago. Google is yet to comment on the speculations.

Source | Via