Chapter 10. WPA and RSN Key Hierarchy

We talked about keys in the introduction to WPA/RSN and explained how, unlike WEP, both WPA and RSN use multiple keys at different levels. In fact, there are so many keys used, it's hard enough for the designer to keep track of them all, let alone an attacker. But don't panic, although there are many keys, they are all hidden away inside the workings of WPA/RSN the administrator needs only to define a single master key from which all these others are derived.

This chapter describes what a key hierarchy is and why so many keys are needed. We look at the key hierarchies for TKIP and AES CCMP, the two ciphersuites described in Chapters 11 and 12. We also review what steps are involved in creating and updating the hierarchy, both when the Wi-Fi LAN is first started and during normal operation.