CVE-2014-5667 in Vault-Hide SMS
Summary
by MITRE
The Vault-Hide SMS, Pics & Videos (aka com.netqin.ps) application 5.0.14.22 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 • 11/22/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-5667 affects the Vault-Hide SMS, Pics & Videos Android application version 5.0.14.22 which is classified as a mobile security application designed to protect user data through encryption and concealment features. This particular flaw represents a critical weakness in the application's secure communication protocols that directly impacts the integrity and confidentiality of user data transmitted through the application. The vulnerability stems from the application's failure to properly validate X.509 certificates during SSL/TLS connections, creating a significant security gap that adversaries can exploit to compromise the application's communication channels.
The technical implementation flaw manifests in the application's inability to perform proper certificate verification when establishing secure connections with remote servers. This weakness allows attackers to perform man-in-the-middle attacks by presenting fraudulent certificates that appear legitimate to the vulnerable application. The application accepts any certificate presented without validating the certificate chain, checking the certificate authority, or verifying the certificate's validity period and subject name. This behavior violates fundamental security principles for secure communication and represents a clear violation of the certificate validation mechanisms that are essential for maintaining trust in SSL/TLS connections.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data interception, as it enables attackers to gain access to sensitive user information that the application is designed to protect. Mobile applications that handle personal data, messages, and media files represent high-value targets for cybercriminals who can exploit this vulnerability to access encrypted content, user credentials, or other sensitive information stored within the application's protected environment. The vulnerability affects the application's core security model and undermines the trust relationship between the user and the application, potentially leading to data breaches, identity theft, or unauthorized access to personal communications and media files.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-295 which specifically addresses "Improper Certificate Validation" and represents a classic example of weak cryptographic implementation that fails to properly validate security certificates. The attack vector follows patterns consistent with the MITM technique described in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under the T1041 technique for Data Obfuscation and T1566 for Phishing, as attackers can leverage this weakness to establish unauthorized communication channels. The vulnerability also maps to the broader category of insecure communication practices that are commonly exploited in mobile application attacks and represents a failure to implement proper certificate pinning or validation mechanisms.
The recommended mitigations for this vulnerability include implementing proper certificate validation procedures that verify certificate chains against trusted certificate authorities, implementing certificate pinning to prevent the acceptance of fraudulent certificates, and ensuring that all SSL/TLS connections perform thorough certificate verification before establishing secure communication. Developers should also implement certificate revocation checking mechanisms and ensure that applications validate certificate expiration dates, subject names, and other critical certificate attributes. Additionally, the application should be updated to include proper error handling for certificate validation failures and should implement secure communication protocols that enforce certificate verification as a mandatory requirement for all network connections. Organizations should also consider implementing network monitoring to detect potential certificate-based attacks and establish incident response procedures for addressing certificate validation failures.