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when using airodump-ng; with the -W / --wps flag enabled,
what are the abbreviations that show up in the new column;
like: LAB,DISP,KPAD,PBC, etc..?

It's only briefly mentioned in the manual:

  -W, --wps
         Display a WPS column with WPS version, config method(s), 
         AP Setup Locked obtained from APs beacon or probe response (if any).
voices
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1 Answers1

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From this site - man 8 airodump-ng may work as well:

This is only displayed when --wps (or -W) is specified. If the AP supports WPS, the first field of the column indicates version supported. The second field indicates WPS config methods (can be more than one method, separated by comma): 

USB = USB method, 
ETHER = Ethernet, 
LAB = Label, 
DISP = Display, 
EXTNFC = External NFC, 
INTNFC =Internal NFC, 
NFCINTF = NFC Interface, 
PBC = Push Button, 
KPAD = Keypad. 
Locked is displayed when AP setup is locked.

A little more detail. Some of these are covered on Wikipedia, others on the Android Developers site:

  • For the USB method a flash drive is used to transfer data between the new client device and the access point
  • LAB is a label on the device that contains a PIN to be input into the client device
  • DISP is when a device generates a PIN and then it is shown on the device
  • EXTNFC, INTNFC, NFCINTF require the devices to be placed near each other for near field communication between the devices
  • PBC method requires a button to be pushed on the client device and AP (either physical or virtual)

  • KPAD is keypad configuration where the pin is entered on the device

  • ETHER ? - I am not sure about this one. It could potentially be for devices that for whatever reason do not have a WPS button (they are supposed to, by the standard though) but still support WPS, potentially something like a range extender. Instead of entering in a PIN somewhere the configuration is done over an Ethernet cable until pairing is complete, then they will work wirelessly.

cutrightjm
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  • Yeah, I actually found that info on a bunch of different sites; but nobody seems to be able to elaborate. Do you know more about it? I mean, a couple of them (i.e. `PBC`) seem fairly obvious, but some others.. not so much. – voices May 11 '17 at 09:08
  • @tjt263 I added a little more information. – cutrightjm May 11 '17 at 12:46
  • Cool, so these are all part of the WPS standard? I thought WPS was just: Press a button on the AP/router, click a button on the client device, maybe enter a PIN number, and that's it; not unlike pairing a couple of Bluetooth devices. – voices May 11 '17 at 14:16
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    AFAIK the pin and pushbutton methods are the only standards, but the others are supported. – cutrightjm May 11 '17 at 16:07