CVE-2014-5076 in Labanquepostale
Summary
by MITRE
The La Banque Postale application before 3.2.6 for Android does not prevent the launching of an activity by a component of another application, which allows attackers to obtain sensitive cached banking information via crafted intents, as demonstrated by the drozer framework.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/12/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-5076 represents a critical security flaw in the La Banque Postale mobile banking application for Android platforms prior to version 3.2.6. This issue stems from improper implementation of Android component exposure controls, specifically allowing unauthorized applications to launch activities within the banking application through crafted intent broadcasts. The vulnerability exists due to the application's failure to properly validate intent origins and component access controls, creating an attack surface that enables malicious actors to exploit the application's internal activity structure.
The technical implementation flaw manifests as a lack of proper intent filtering and component protection mechanisms within the Android manifest file. Attackers can leverage the drozer framework to construct malicious intents that target exposed activities within the vulnerable application, bypassing the normal authentication and authorization mechanisms. This weakness directly violates the principle of least privilege and component isolation that should be enforced by the Android security model. The vulnerability falls under CWE-284, which addresses improper access control, specifically in the context of Android application components where activities are not properly secured against unauthorized invocation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and directly threatens user financial security and data confidentiality. An attacker with malicious applications installed on a victim's device can exploit this flaw to gain access to cached banking information, including account details, transaction history, and potentially session tokens. The drozer framework demonstrates how easily this can be accomplished through automated exploitation techniques that enumerate exposed components and craft appropriate intent payloads to trigger sensitive activities. This vulnerability enables man-in-the-middle attacks and session hijacking scenarios that can lead to complete account compromise and financial fraud.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate application updates to implement proper intent filtering and component protection measures. The application should declare activities with appropriate intent filters that restrict external access and implement proper authentication checks before processing sensitive operations. Security controls must include the use of android:exported=false for activities that should not be accessible from external applications, combined with proper permission checks and signature verification mechanisms. Organizations should also implement runtime application self-protection measures and conduct regular security assessments to identify and remediate similar exposure vulnerabilities. This vulnerability highlights the importance of following Android security best practices and adheres to ATT&CK technique T1059 for executing malicious code through component manipulation and T1555 for credential access through application exploitation.