Can Machine Learning Break Wi-Fi Privacy? A Study on MAC Address Randomization

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2606.25788v1
• Date: Wed, 24 Jun 2026 13:07:05 GMT
• Title: Can Machine Learning Break Wi-Fi Privacy? A Study on MAC Address Randomization
• Abstract summary: We show that devices remain identifiable using Machine Learning (ML)-based fingerprinting.<n>A core contribution of this paper is the bitwise decomposition of the High Throughput (HT) capabilities information field.<n>Our results show that DBSCAN, when using HT capabilities information and three SRSSI measurements, achieves a global accuracy up to 89.6%.
• Score: 2.5227912984325362
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Abstract: Medium Access Control (MAC) address randomization has been widely adopted during the IEEE 802.11 network discovery phase as a countermeasure against passive tracking. This paper exposes vulnerabilities in these privacy protocols by demonstrating that devices remain identifiable using Machine Learning (ML)-based fingerprinting. To study the potential tracking capabilities of a passive attacker, we evaluate different eavesdropping scenarios and configurations. To this end, we extract unencrypted hardware specifications from Probe Frames, which we combine with the Inter-Probe Frame Arrival Time (IFAT) and Simulated Received Signal Strength Indication (SRSSI) signals. A core contribution of this paper is the bitwise decomposition of the High Throughput (HT) capabilities information field, which improves device identification accuracy. We evaluate this de-randomization approach using three unsupervised clustering algorithms (K-Means, DBSCAN, and OPTICS) across a dataset of 22 devices from six manufacturers. Our results show that DBSCAN, when using decomposed HT capabilities information and three SRSSI measurements, achieves a global accuracy up to 89.6%. This suggests that the existing MAC randomization solutions are insufficient and underscores the need for enhancing privacy within Wi-Fi standardization.

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