** Changed in: gnome-control-center
Status: Unknown => Confirmed
** Changed in: gnome-control-center
Importance: Unknown => Wishlist
** Changed in: network-manager
Status: Unknown => Confirmed
** Changed in: network-manager
Importance: Unknown => Wishlist
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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1735002
Title:
Allow configuring Wi-Fi MAC Randomization feature from GUI
Status in gnome-control-center:
Confirmed
Status in NetworkManager:
Confirmed
Status in gnome-control-center package in Ubuntu:
Triaged
Status in network-manager package in Ubuntu:
Triaged
Bug description:
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.
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