NetworkManager MAC address spoofing issue

26 May 2022, 01:31:44

I'm having an issue where NetworkManager doesn't use a spoofed MAC address by default for a new Wi-Fi connection, even if I add a config file and restart the NetworkManager service.

I made a config file that I added to /etc/NetworkManager/conf.d, and it just has this in it, which I copied from ArchWiki:

Code: [Select]

[connection-mac-randomization]
# Randomize MAC for every ethernet connection
ethernet.cloned-mac-address=stable
# Generate a random MAC for each WiFi and associate the two permanently.
wifi.cloned-mac-address=stable

But it doesn't seem to do anything, since when I connect to a router that isn't saved on my device, the settings that are then generated for it have the setting "Cloned MAC address" as blank and it stays that way unless I manually change it, which seems to me that it's still using my hardware MAC address by default, not only because it was already like that, but because I think I read somewhere that this is probably what the blank setting means. Which then also means that each new router I connect to will be able to store/collect the true MAC address of my computer's Wi-Fi card before I change the setting over for that Wi-Fi network. What do I need to do to fix this?

Here's that blank setting btw:
https://forum.artixlinux.org/index.php?action=dlattach;sa=tmpattach;attach=post_tmp_2595_bc12d8e42afd967102c0e599362664d3;topic=4085