wpa_supplicant v0.6.3 loses connection, then reconnects to a different AP

[Jouni Malinen]

On Tue, Jun 03, 2008 at 08:56:00PM -0700, David Ehrmann wrote:

> Strange thing... xx:xx:xx:04:85:aa IS the AP specified in my config 
> file.  Looking at my log, I see lots of these message bursts, all 
> separated by 60 sec (+/- a few sec):
> 
> RTM_NEWLINK: operstate=1 ifi_flags=0x11043 ([UP][RUNNING][LOWER_UP])
> Wireless event: cmd=0x8c09 len=32
> PMKID candidate wireless event: flags=0x0 index=0 bssid=xx:xx:xx:04:85:aa
> RSN: PMKID candidate event - bssid=xx:xx:xx:04:85:aa index=0 preauth=0
> RSN: Ignored PMKID candidate without preauth flag

These are like generated by the driver based on background scans. The
driver is likely reporting all BSSes that match the BSS, including the
currently selected BSS.

> Then, after the aforementioned ( http://pastebin.com/f491af16d ) 
> sequence, my AP (xx:xx:xx:04:85:aa) gets added to the blacklist, and the 
> wireless interface ends up appearing unassociated with an AP when I run 
> iwconfig.

I do not think this is directly related to the PMKID candidate messages,
but the background scans may cause the driver to try to associate with
another BSS.

> Is there any special meaning to seeing the event every 60 seconds, or is 
> it just some value used in the driver?  I'm guessing the driver 
> shouldn't be spamming wpa_supplicant with these messages, but is 
> blacklisting the current AP the right behavior?

Yes, this is normal behavior for reporting visible BSSes as potential
targets for PMKSA caching based on background scan results. The AP is
not blacklisted because of these messages; blacklisting is only used to
allow other BSSes to be tried if the BSS with strongest signal strength
fails association/authentication (either due to timeout or
authentication failure).

-- 
Jouni Malinen                                            PGP id EFC895FA