CVE-2014-5581 in Mirror Photo! Shape
Summary
by MITRE
The mirror photo shape (aka com.baiwang.styleinstamirror) application 1.4 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.
VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/25/2024
The vulnerability described in CVE-2014-5581 affects the com.baiwang.styleinstamirror Android application version 1.4, specifically targeting its implementation of secure communication protocols. This flaw represents a critical security weakness in the application's certificate validation mechanism, creating an avenue for sophisticated cyber attacks that exploit the fundamental trust model of secure communications. The application's failure to properly validate X.509 certificates from SSL servers constitutes a severe deviation from established security practices and industry standards for mobile application development.
The technical flaw manifests as a complete absence of certificate verification within the application's secure socket layer implementation. When the application establishes connections to remote servers, it does not perform the necessary cryptographic validation of SSL certificates to ensure they are issued by trusted certificate authorities and properly match the intended server identity. This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-295, which specifically addresses the weakness of not validating certificates or using weak certificate validation. The absence of certificate pinning, trust chain validation, and proper certificate fingerprint verification creates an environment where attackers can seamlessly impersonate legitimate servers without detection.
Operationally, this vulnerability exposes users to significant risks including data interception, credential theft, and unauthorized access to sensitive information. Attackers can leverage this weakness to execute man-in-the-middle attacks by presenting crafted certificates that appear legitimate to the vulnerable application. The impact extends beyond simple data theft to potentially enable complete session hijacking and unauthorized transactions, particularly if the application handles financial or personal data. Mobile applications are especially vulnerable to these attacks due to the limited security controls available in mobile environments compared to desktop systems, making the exploitation of such flaws particularly dangerous for end users.
The security implications of this vulnerability align with techniques documented in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under the T1041 technique for data encryption for exfiltration and T1566 for credential harvesting through social engineering. Organizations and users should implement immediate mitigations including disabling the vulnerable application until a patched version is available, implementing network-level monitoring to detect suspicious certificate behavior, and establishing certificate pinning policies for applications handling sensitive data. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of following OWASP Mobile Top 10 security guidelines, particularly the M3 category regarding insecure communication channels, and demonstrates the critical need for comprehensive security testing during mobile application development lifecycle processes to prevent such fundamental flaws from reaching production environments.