CVE-2014-4897 in Touriosity Travelmag
Summary
by MITRE
The Touriosity Travelmag (aka com.magzter.touriositytravelmag) application 3.1 for Android does not verify X.509 certificates from SSL servers, which allows man-in-the-middle attackers to spoof servers and obtain sensitive information via a crafted certificate.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/23/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-4897 affects the Touriosity Travelmag Android application version 3.1, representing a critical security flaw in the application's implementation of secure communication protocols. This issue stems from the application's failure to properly validate X.509 certificates during SSL/TLS connections, creating a significant attack surface that adversaries can exploit to compromise user data and system integrity. The vulnerability specifically targets the certificate verification mechanism that should ensure the authenticity and trustworthiness of SSL servers before establishing secure connections. This weakness allows malicious actors to perform man-in-the-middle attacks by presenting forged certificates that appear legitimate to the vulnerable application, thereby undermining the fundamental security guarantees that SSL/TLS protocols are designed to provide.
The technical flaw manifests in the application's lack of proper certificate pinning or validation procedures during the SSL handshake process. When the Touriosity Travelmag application establishes connections to remote servers, it fails to verify the certificate chain against trusted Certificate Authorities or implement certificate pinning mechanisms that would prevent the acceptance of unauthorized certificates. This absence of verification creates a scenario where attackers can intercept communications between the mobile application and its servers, potentially capturing sensitive user data, session tokens, or other confidential information transmitted over the network. The vulnerability operates at the transport layer security level and directly violates established security protocols that mandate certificate validation as a prerequisite for secure communication establishment.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data interception, as it enables sophisticated attack vectors that can compromise user privacy and application integrity. Attackers can leverage this weakness to impersonate legitimate servers, redirect users to malicious endpoints, or extract sensitive information from users who interact with the application. The vulnerability affects users who rely on the application for travel-related services, potentially exposing personal information, payment details, or location data that could be exploited for identity theft or financial fraud. Additionally, the compromised application may serve as a foothold for broader attacks within the user's network environment, particularly if the application accesses other services or systems that may be less secure.
Organizations and developers should implement comprehensive mitigations to address this vulnerability, beginning with immediate certificate validation enforcement within the application's SSL/TLS implementation. The recommended approach involves implementing proper certificate pinning mechanisms that validate certificates against a known set of trusted authorities or specific certificate fingerprints, thereby preventing the acceptance of forged certificates. Security measures should also include regular updates to certificate trust stores, implementation of certificate transparency monitoring, and adherence to industry best practices such as those outlined in the OWASP Mobile Security Project. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving credential access and network sniffing, while CWE-295 represents the specific weakness in certificate validation that enables this attack vector. The mitigation strategy should also incorporate network security monitoring to detect anomalous certificate behavior and establish secure communication protocols that align with NIST SP 800-52 recommendations for mobile application security.