[Bug 1735002] [NEW] Allow configuring Wi-Fi MAC Randomization feature from GUI
Jeremy Bicha
jeremy at bicha.net
Tue Nov 28 21:56:05 UTC 2017
Public bug reported:
Recent versions of NetworkManager have a feature enabled by default to
use a random MAC address when scanning for available Wi-Fi networks for
privacy. My understanding is that the spoofed MAC address is not used
when actually connecting to a network.
This feature was disabled in Ubuntu 17.10 because it broke scanning with
some Wi-Fi drivers. My understanding is that there is a bug in some
drivers when attempting to change the MAC address. See LP: #1681513.
The bug might not be as big of an issue with the latest version of NetworkManager because
1) There are helpful commits like this (it was not backported to 17.04):
https://cgit.freedesktop.org/NetworkManager/NetworkManager/commit/?id=46d53e1
2) It is also possible now to selectively disable Wi-Fi MAC Randomization for specific drivers.
https://cgit.freedesktop.org/NetworkManager/NetworkManager/commit/?id=b869d9
However, I'm really hesitant to re-enable this feature as long as
A) we don't know for sure which drivers are affected,
B) and more importantly, there is no GUI way to turn the feature on or off. Asking users to edit config files isn't very nice.
The MAC Address Randomization feature is really nice (Windows 10 has a
similar feature) but I think we need a GUI on/off switch in Settings >
Wi-Fi or Settings > Privacy.
** Affects: gnome-control-center
Importance: Unknown
Status: Unknown
** Affects: network-manager
Importance: Unknown
Status: Unknown
** Affects: gnome-control-center (Ubuntu)
Importance: Wishlist
Status: Triaged
** Affects: network-manager (Ubuntu)
Importance: Wishlist
Status: Triaged
** Tags: bionic
** Also affects: gnome-control-center (Ubuntu)
Importance: Undecided
Status: New
** Changed in: gnome-control-center (Ubuntu)
Importance: Undecided => Wishlist
** Changed in: gnome-control-center (Ubuntu)
Status: New => Triaged
** Bug watch added: GNOME Bug Tracker #781295
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=781295
** Also affects: gnome-control-center via
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=781295
Importance: Unknown
Status: Unknown
** Bug watch added: GNOME Bug Tracker #790961
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=790961
** Also affects: network-manager via
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=790961
Importance: Unknown
Status: Unknown
** Tags added: bionic
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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1735002
Title:
Allow configuring Wi-Fi MAC Randomization feature from GUI
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