I just downloaded and virtualized Backtrack 5 R2 in VMware. I deliberately configured my wireless router to use WEP so I can crack it with aircrack-ng. Every tutorial I can find starts with the same instruction. They say to open the terminal (BASH) and type:

airmon-ng

That is supposed to list interface names such as wlan0, eth0, and lo0. It does not work for me. When I enter the command, it only lists the category names side by side. It lists "Interface", "Chipset", and "Driver" as column labels but nothing in the columns themselves. The output looks like this.

Interface Chipset Driver

I confirmed that browsing the internet works. I also confirmed that typing the command ifconfig lists "eth0" and "lo".

For what it's worth, I discovered that I am not the only person with this problem. The comments in the following tutorial reveal users who report the same problem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFfHYfMZFag

One example is this question and response.

Q: "what is wlan0 and mon0..... they don't appear on my backtrack 5... why? please help me"

A: "You have to connect your wifi adapter to your virtual macheine, then connect it to the internet. Wlan0 is the Network hense the LAN "and the mon Is moniter, For monitering packets..Hope you understand subscribe to iRunWindows ill make a tut on that acc soon"

I checked that youtube channel and saw no tutorial. I am also left wondering if that's really the problem (because my internet works and ifconfig lists 2 of my interfaces).

I have no idea if it works via VMware, but if it does I'd imagine you would have to make sure that VMware was bridging between the physical wireless interface and the emulated interface in the VM.

What do you see when you do an "ifconfig" from the commandline?

-id

This is what I see when I run the ifconfig command (with asteriks in place of the addresses for anonymity/security).


eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr **:**:**:**:**:**
inet addr:***.***.***.*** Bcast:***.***.***.*** Mask:***.***.***.**
inet6 addr: ***::***:***:***:***/64 Scope:Link
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:17 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:22 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
RX bytes:1924 (1.9 KB) TX bytes:2406 (2.4 KB)
Interrupt:19 Base address:0x****

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:***.***.***.*** Mask:***.***.***.***
inet6 addr: ::1/128 Scope:Host
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:22 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:22 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
collisions:0 txqueuelen:0
RX bytes:1297 (1.2 KB) TX bytes:1297 (1.2 KB)

Here is the deal. The network interface name displays in the output when I enter the "airmon-ng" command if I boot BackTrack from a CD. The moral of the story is to simply not use VMware.

Even after my wireless network card was detected and working beautifully with BackTrack to go online, it still could not be used to crack WEP. I learned that the majority of wireless network cards can not perform "packet injection" well enough to crack wireless (because the corresponding drivers can not do packet injection). I had to go out and purchase a new (physical) wireless networking card that can do packet injection and reference the aircrack-ng compatibility list.

Unfortunately, I still did not getting working with my own router but I did a packet injection test to make sure packet injection worked. The new networking card passed the test and the old one failed, so I am getting closer.

good deal. I'll be building a new wireless pentest rig in a month or so. What card did you use? I'd like to find a decent one that works with N.

-id

Alfa AWUS036H: It was recommended by lifehacker and seemed credible because the author bought a different one, and after researching more, wished he purchased that one instead. The reviews are very favorable all over the net. On Amazon, there were customers who advised buying a 10-foot USB cable and standing away from it because it sends such a strong signal.

The Alfa AWUS036NH takes full advantage of 802.11n, but isn't as compatible as the AWUS036H. I have both and would highly recommend them. Buying an extra antenna to go along with them is nice too!