CVE-2014-5538 in Westmoreland Water FCU
Summary
by MITRE
The Westmoreland Water FCU (aka air.com.creditunionhomebanking.mb115) application 1.2.0 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-2014-5538 affects the Westmoreland Water FCU mobile banking application version 1.2.0 for Android devices, representing a critical security flaw in the application's cryptographic implementation. This weakness 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. The vulnerability specifically impacts the application's secure communication protocols, which are fundamental to protecting sensitive financial information transmitted between mobile users and banking servers.
The technical flaw manifests as a complete absence of certificate verification mechanisms within the application's SSL implementation. When the application establishes secure connections to backend servers, it fails to perform the essential X.509 certificate validation steps that should confirm the server's identity and ensure the certificate's authenticity. This omission places the application in direct violation of established security standards and best practices for secure mobile banking applications. The vulnerability maps directly to CWE-295, which specifically addresses "Improper Certificate Validation," and represents a classic example of insufficient cryptographic validation that undermines the entire security architecture of the mobile banking platform.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and multifaceted, as it enables sophisticated man-in-the-middle attacks that can completely compromise user sessions and sensitive financial data. Attackers can craft malicious certificates that appear legitimate to the vulnerable application, allowing them to intercept and modify communications between users and banking servers. This capability enables attackers to obtain login credentials, account information, transaction details, and other sensitive data that should remain protected during transmission. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous in mobile banking contexts where users may be accessing services over unsecured public networks, making the attack surface even more extensive.
The security implications extend beyond simple data theft to include potential financial fraud and identity theft scenarios. Since the application handles sensitive banking information, successful exploitation could result in unauthorized transactions, account takeovers, and complete compromise of user financial accounts. The vulnerability affects the confidentiality and integrity of communications, violating fundamental security principles that mobile banking applications must uphold. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability enables techniques such as T1041, Network Sniffing, and T1566, Phishing, by allowing attackers to intercept and manipulate network traffic without detection.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate application updates that implement proper certificate verification mechanisms. The fix should include robust X.509 certificate validation that checks certificate chains, validates trust anchors, and ensures certificate expiration dates are properly verified. Security patches must be deployed across all affected versions of the application, and users should be prompted to update immediately. Organizations should also implement additional monitoring for suspicious network activity and consider deploying network-based intrusion detection systems to identify potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the critical importance of cryptographic security in mobile applications and reinforces the need for comprehensive security testing, particularly for financial services applications that handle sensitive user data.