SSIDs not going to the Pool

[Skinny]

Hi Everyone,

I recently upgraded my firmware to 2.3.2 and ran some tests using PineAP. I checked every box except Allow Associations and enabled the daemon. I did some typical device checks and found that my Pineapple was not capturing SSIDs to the pool. 

I know that many devices don't share their PNL easily, so I spun up the laptop with Wireshark, put the Pineapple on a battery, and went for a drive. 

Although there were many SSIDs being revealed through devices' probe requests, the Pineapple did not capture a single one to its pool.

Has anyone else had a similar issue? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Just_a_User]

3 hours ago, Skinny said:

Has anyone else had a similar issue? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I did have this on one of the previous versions of FW but the latest one resolved for me. If I were you i would do a firmware recovery, not a factory reset but a firmware recovery.

https://www.wifipineapple.com/pages/faq  make sureto flash the factory version of firmware then upgrade.to latest.

[Skinny]

@Just_a_User I did as you suggested and performed a firmware recovery on the Pineapple. Then I upgraded to 2.3.2. It still would not put SSIDs in the pool.

Just to make sure it was not a hardware issue, I unpacked a second Nano that was still in the box and  updated to the latest firmware. Still there is was no SSID capture.

I finally did another firmware recovery but this time did not upgrade to 2.3.2. I left it at 2.0.2. The Pineapple is acting like its old self again with no problems.

All I can conclude is that something is not right with 2.3.2. Your thoughts?

[Just_a_User]

8 minutes ago, Skinny said:

All I can conclude is that something is not right with 2.3.2. Your thoughts?

Ummm... did you have Log PineAP Events checked in the PineAP settings?

[Sebkinne]

15 minutes ago, Skinny said:

@Just_a_User I did as you suggested and performed a firmware recovery on the Pineapple. Then I upgraded to 2.3.2. It still would not put SSIDs in the pool.

Just to make sure it was not a hardware issue, I unpacked a second Nano that was still in the box and  updated to the latest firmware. Still there is was no SSID capture.

I finally did another firmware recovery but this time did not upgrade to 2.3.2. I left it at 2.0.2. The Pineapple is acting like its old self again with no problems.

All I can conclude is that something is not right with 2.3.2. Your thoughts?

What are your filters set to?

[Skinny]

@Just_a_User I do have Log PineAP Events checked.

@Sebkinne Hi Seb! The filters are set to the default mode. Allow for Client Filtering and Deny for SSID filtering. I was under the impression that these only really mattered when trying to get someone to associate to the Pineapple, not when just collecting SSIDs.

[Merlintime]

15 hours ago, Skinny said:

@Just_a_User I do have Log PineAP Events checked.

@Sebkinne Hi Seb! The filters are set to the default mode. Allow for Client Filtering and Deny for SSID filtering. I was under the impression that these only really mattered when trying to get someone to associate to the Pineapple, not when just collecting SSIDs.

If you are attempting to add SSIDs to the pool, the filter needs to be set to 'Deny'.  If set to 'Allow', only SSIDs with matching MAC Addresses will be allowed to connect, this would include adding the SSID pool.  At least that's my understanding of how it should work.  I have mine set to 'Deny' when gathering SSIDs for the pool which has been working fine.

WiFi Pineapple Wiki

Quote

Client Filtering
In Deny Mode, Clients with MAC Addresses listed in the Client Filter will not be able to connect to the WiFi Pineapple. In Allow Mode, only Clients with MAC Addresses listed in the Client Filter will be able to connect. When performing an audit, it is best to use Allow Mode to ensure that only clients within the scope of engagement are targeted.

 

Edited September 16, 2018 by Merlintime
Correction made: "I have mine set to 'Allow'..." to "I have mine set to 'Deny'....

[Sebkinne]

6 hours ago, Merlintime said:

If you are attempting to add SSIDs to the pool, the filter needs to be set to 'Deny'.  If set to 'Allow', only SSIDs with matching MAC Addresses will be allowed to connect, this would include adding the SSID pool.  At least that's my understanding of how it should work.  I have mine set to 'Allow' when gathering SSIDs for the pool which has been working fine.

WiFi Pineapple Wiki

 

This is correct. @skinny, we recently changed the default filters and their logging behavior to avoid unwanted collateral ?

[Skinny]

@Merlintime & @Sebkinne thanks for the help.

I was unaware that the defaults had changed. My applications are so niche and none of them entail me trying to filter. After I read both of your posts, I had to read the wiki Filters paragraph 3 times to wrap my head around how they work. Maybe I've been living in Alabama too long ??

If I'm reading this correctly, when just collecting SSIDs to the pool, I want to use Deny in Client Filtering because this filter only denies interaction with the clients listed. If no clients are listed, then I can interact with any client, thus allowing me to collect SSIDs. Conversely, if I place the filter in Allow, I can only interact with those clients listed. If no clients are listeds, I can interact with no clients.

With SSID filtering, when in Deny mode, clients are denied interaction with those SSIDs listed in the filter, however if no SSIDs are listed then clients can interact with any SSID in the pineapple pool. In Allow mode, clients can only interact with those SSIDs listed in the filter. If no SSIDs are listed, then no interactions can occur.

Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction guys.

[Merlintime]

I made a mistake when posting my comment.  I would seem I probably shouldn't post with it's nearly 1AM.  ?

When gathering SSIDs for the pool I use the 'Deny' filter (I originally stated 'Allow').  My 'Deny' filter is usually empty which allows the Pineapple to add any new SSIDs. encountered.