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I regularly create a hotspot from my computer in order to share documents:

cp mydocument.txt /var/www/html/
service apache2 start
nohup nmcli dev wifi hotspot ifname wlan0 con-name documents ssid documents band bg channel 4

Which risk do I take by running this hotspot and what could an attacker potentially do because of this hotspot?

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  • So the hotspot is yours? Or you mean you're connecting to a hotspot? – user81147 Dec 16 '16 at 11:43
  • Yes, it is mine and is generate from my laptop interface. – user123456 Dec 16 '16 at 11:48
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    I suggest connecting to the hotspot with another laptop of yours, and running nmap to see what is exposed. Might surprise you... e.g. iptables may not be configured to protect that interface – paj28 Dec 16 '16 at 12:03
  • @paj28 good idea, when you assume an attacker gains access to the wireless network. Otherwise, the security depends on the software creating the hotspot and the authentication method. – SaAtomic Dec 16 '16 at 12:09
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    @SaAtomic - When sharing documents he's going to give the password to someone else. Even though they're trusted to some degree, an error like sharing the whole disk through NFS would be A Bad Thing (tm) – paj28 Dec 16 '16 at 12:22
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Attacker could potentially exploit some weakness in Apache service, which will lead to remote command execution and/or privilege escalation to a point of seizing control of your computer.

Thankfully, you're as good as the rest of the Internet running Apache as their HTTP server, which is not that bad.

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It should be safe since it creates a password. But ensure that you use WPA2 instad or WEP. It's more secure. WEP can be broken more easy with brute-force attack. Check the man pages, it is the password keyword.

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  • There is no password with this command. The document is in fact a public gpg key linked to an anonymous account => I don't care if a stranger get it too. – user123456 Dec 17 '16 at 0:14
  • @j658063.mvrht.com: From the nmcli man page: wifi hotspot [ifname ifname] [con-name name] [ssid SSID] [band {a | bg}] [channel channel] [password password] and "If password not provided, nmcli will generate a password." I cannot understand your comment... Could you please explain? – RichArt Dec 17 '16 at 10:39

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