MAC Address Gets Disabled: TP-Link TL-WN722N Wireless Adapter on Kali Linux (VirtualBox)

Title: MAC Address Gets Disabled: TP-Link TL-WN722N Wireless Adapter in Kali Linux (VirtualBox)

Introduction

In this article, we will discuss a common issue that may arise when using a TP-Link TL-WN722N wireless adapter in Kali Linux, which is running on a VirtualBox virtual machine. Specifically, we will focus on the problem of the MAC address getting disabled and how to solve it.

Background

To start with, let's first define some key concepts:

• MAC address: A MAC (Media Access Control) address is a unique identifier assigned to a network interface controller (NIC) for use as a network address in communications within a network segment. This address is usually assigned by the manufacturer of the NIC and is stored in the NIC's hardware.
• TP-Link TL-WN722N: This is a popular USB wireless network adapter that can be used with Linux distributions.
• Kali Linux: Kali Linux is a Debian-based Linux distribution that is designed for digital forensics, penetration testing, and network security assessments.
• VirtualBox: VirtualBox is a powerful x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product for enterprise as well as home use. It is a general-purpose full virtualizer for hardware-assisted and software-only virtualization, running on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Solaris platforms.

Now that we have defined these key terms, let's move on to the problem at hand.

Problem Description

When using the TP-Link TL-WN722N wireless adapter in Kali Linux, which is running in VirtualBox, users may encounter an issue where the MAC address gets disabled. This can be observed by running the ifconfig command in the terminal:

--questionbegin--
type ifconfig starting Kali Linux VirtualBox not assigned MAC address.
See terminal trace.

┌──(root㉿kali)-[/home/kali]└─#ifconfig
eth0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
        ether 00:00:00:00:00:00  txqueuelen 1000 
        RX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
        TX packets 0  bytes 0 (0.0 B)
        TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0

lo: flags=73<UP,LOOPBACK,RUNNING>  mtu 65536
        inet 127.0.0.1  netmask 255.0.0.0
        inet6 ::1  prefixlen 128  scopeid 0x10<host>
        loop  txqueuelen 1000  (Local Loopback)
--questionend--

As can be observed from the terminal trace, the MAC address for the wireless adapter (eth0) is set to all zeros (00:00:00:00:00:00). This means that the adapter is not able to communicate on the network as it does not have a unique identifier.

Solution

To solve this problem, follow these steps:

1. Shutdown the Kali Linux virtual machine.

2. In the VirtualBox manager, select the Kali Linux virtual machine and click on the Settings button.

3. In the Settings window, click on the Ports tab and then select the USB option on the left pane.

4. In the USB tab, make sure that the TP-Link TL-WN722N wireless adapter is selected and then click on the USB Settings button.

5. In the USB Settings window, make sure that the Enable USB Controller option is checked and that the USB 2.0 (EHCI) or USB 3.0 (xHCI) option is selected, depending on the version of the adapter.

6. Check the Disable this device when the virtual machine is not running option. This will ensure that the adapter is not in use by the host operating system when the virtual machine is running.

7. Click OK to close the USB Settings window.

8. Click OK to close the Settings window.

9. Start the Kali Linux virtual machine.

10. In the Kali Linux terminal, run the ifconfig command again:

    
    ┌──(root㉿kali)-[/home/kali]└─#ifconfig
    eth0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
            inet 10.0.2.15  netmask 255.255.255.0  broadcast 10.0.2.255
            ether 08:00:27:2b:6d:5c  txqueuelen 1000  (Ethernet)
            RX packets 25  bytes 3852 (3.7 KiB)
            RX errors 0  dropped 0  overruns 0  frame 0
            TX packets 19  bytes 2938 (2.8 KiB)
            TX errors 0  dropped 0 overruns 0  carrier 0  collisions 0
    

    As can be observed from the terminal trace, the MAC address for the wireless adapter (eth0) is now set to a unique value (08:00:27:2b:6d:5c). This means that the adapter is now able to communicate on the network.

Alternative Solution

An alternative solution to this problem is to manually assign a MAC address to the wireless adapter in Kali Linux. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Shutdown the Kali Linux virtual machine.

2. In the VirtualBox manager, select the Kali Linux virtual machine and click on the Settings button.

3. In the Settings window, click on the System tab and then select the Motherboard option on the left pane.

4. In the Motherboard tab, uncheck the Enable EFI (Special OSes only) option if it is checked. This is necessary because EFI can sometimes prevent the assignment of a static MAC address.

5. Start the Kali Linux virtual machine.

6. In the Kali Linux terminal, edit the /etc/network/interfaces file:

   
   ┌──(root㉿kali)-[/home/kali]└─#nano /etc/network/interfaces
   

7. Add the following lines to the end of the file:

   
   auto eth0
   iface eth0 inet dhcp
           hwaddress ether 00:11:22:33:44:55
   

   In the above example, 00:11:22:33:44:55 is the manually assigned MAC address for the wireless adapter.

8. Save and close the file.

9. Restart the networking service:

   
   ┌──(root㉿kali)-[/home/kali]└─#systemctl restart networking
   

10. In the Kali Linux terminal, run the ifconfig command to confirm that the wireless adapter now has the assigned MAC address:

    
    ┌──(root㉿kali)-[/home/kali]└─#ifconfig
    eth0: flags=4163<UP,BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST>  mtu 1500
            inet 10.0