CVE-2014-5695 in Hello Kitty Cafe
Summary
by MITRE
The Hello Kitty Cafe (aka com.sd.google.helloKittyCafe) application 1.4.0 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 • 08/29/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-5695 affects the Hello Kitty Cafe mobile application version 1.4.0 for android platforms, representing a critical security flaw in the application's secure communication implementation. This issue resides within the application's SSL/TLS certificate validation mechanism, where the software fails to properly verify X.509 certificates presented by remote servers during secure connections. The absence of proper certificate verification creates a significant security gap that directly violates fundamental principles of secure communications and authentication.
The technical flaw manifests as a failure to implement proper certificate pinning or validation procedures that should occur during SSL handshake processes. When an application establishes a secure connection to a remote server, it should validate the server's X.509 certificate against trusted certificate authorities and verify the certificate's authenticity, validity period, and proper signing chain. In this case, the Hello Kitty Cafe application bypasses these essential verification steps, allowing attackers to present malicious certificates that appear legitimate to the application. This weakness enables attackers to perform man-in-the-middle attacks by intercepting communications between the mobile application and its backend servers, effectively breaking the cryptographic protection mechanisms that should secure data transmission.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and multifaceted, particularly for users who engage with sensitive personal or financial information through the application. Attackers exploiting this flaw can intercept and manipulate all data transmitted between the mobile device and the application servers, potentially gaining access to user credentials, personal information, payment details, and other confidential data. The vulnerability specifically enables attackers to spoof legitimate servers, making it appear as though they are communicating with the genuine application backend when they are actually interacting with the attacker's compromised server. This scenario directly aligns with attack patterns described in the mitre att&ck framework under the initial access and credential access domains, where adversaries establish persistent access through compromised communication channels.
From a security standards perspective, this vulnerability maps directly to common weakness enumeration CWE-295, which specifically addresses "Improper Certificate Validation," and represents a failure to implement proper SSL/TLS security controls as recommended by industry best practices. The flaw also demonstrates a violation of the principle of least privilege and secure by design principles, as the application fails to implement basic security measures that should be fundamental to any mobile application handling user data. Organizations implementing similar security controls should reference the owasp mobile security project guidelines and nist cybersecurity framework recommendations for proper certificate validation and secure communication implementation. The vulnerability underscores the critical importance of certificate pinning mechanisms and proper SSL/TLS configuration in mobile applications, as highlighted in various security frameworks including the mobile application security guidelines published by the mobile security alliance and similar industry organizations.
The recommended mitigations for this vulnerability involve implementing proper certificate validation procedures within the application, including certificate pinning to specific trusted certificates or certificate authorities. Developers should implement robust SSL/TLS validation mechanisms that verify certificate chains, check certificate expiration dates, and ensure certificates are signed by trusted authorities. Additionally, the application should implement certificate revocation checking and maintain up-to-date certificate trust stores. Security architects should consider implementing additional layers of protection such as mutual authentication, secure key storage mechanisms, and regular security assessments to ensure proper implementation of cryptographic controls. Organizations should also establish monitoring procedures to detect and respond to potential certificate compromise incidents, as outlined in various incident response frameworks and security operations center protocols.