Aircrack-ng
Aircrack-ng is a suite of tools for assessing Wi-Fi network security: monitoring, capturing and testing WEP/WPA key strength.
Legal & ethical use. Capturing or attacking other people's Wi-Fi networks is illegal. Use this tool only on systems, networks and data that you own or have explicit written permission to test. Unauthorised access or scanning can break computer-misuse laws (for example Pakistan's Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016, and equivalents elsewhere). Practise in your own lab or in authorised environments such as CTFs.
What it is used for
- Audit the strength of your own Wi-Fi passphrase
- Capture handshakes from your lab access point
Key features
- Monitor mode capture (airodump-ng)
- Packet injection testing
- Key cracking (aircrack-ng)
Installation
Install from your distribution (`sudo apt install aircrack-ng`); you need a Wi-Fi adapter that supports monitor mode.
Beginner usage guide
Test only your own access point; capture a handshake then test your passphrase against a wordlist.
Example commands
Run these only against your own lab or authorised targets. Placeholder addresses such as 192.0.2.x are documentation ranges.
List wireless networks in monitor mode
sudo airodump-ng wlan0monShows nearby access points; requires an interface already in monitor mode (for example created with airmon-ng).
References
Source verification
Last reviewed: 2026-10-27
Links checked over HTTP: 2026-10-27 07:51 UTC — official: 200, docs: 200, repo: 200
Command flags checked against the real binary airodump-ng ([0m"airodump-ng --help" for help.) on 2026-10-27.