Flaw in Wi-Fi Standard Can Enable SSID Confusion Attacks

KU Leuven researchers disclosed CVE-2023-52424, a fundamental IEEE 802.11 design flaw that can trick Wi‑Fi clients into connecting to a different (weaker) network than the one shown in the user interface. The 'SSID confusion' attack enables downgrade and man-in-the-middle scenarios across WPA3/WEP/802.11X deployments, can undermine VPN protections that trust SSIDs, and is mitigable via protocol changes, beacon protection, and avoiding credential reuse.