CVE-2014-5700 in Brain lab - brain age games IQ
Summary
by MITRE
The Brain lab - brain age games IQ (aka com.sixdead.brainlab) application 2.37 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-2014-5700 affects the Brain lab - brain age games IQ application version 2.37 for Android devices, representing a critical security flaw in the application's implementation of secure communications. This issue stems from the application's failure to properly validate X.509 certificates during SSL/TLS connections, creating a significant attack vector that undermines the fundamental security guarantees of encrypted communications. The flaw specifically targets the certificate verification process, which is essential for establishing trust between the mobile application and remote servers.
This vulnerability creates a man-in-the-middle attack scenario where malicious actors can intercept communications between the Android application and its backend servers. The application's inability to verify certificate authenticity allows attackers to present forged certificates that appear legitimate to the client application. When users interact with the application, their sensitive data may be transmitted through insecure channels where the attacker can eavesdrop, modify communications, or impersonate legitimate servers. The flaw essentially disables the cryptographic protection mechanisms designed to secure data transmission, leaving user information exposed to interception and manipulation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft, as it compromises the integrity and confidentiality of all communications between the application and its servers. Users of the Brain lab application may unknowingly share personal information, gaming progress data, or other sensitive details that could be intercepted by attackers. The vulnerability affects the application's ability to maintain secure sessions, potentially allowing for account takeovers, data manipulation, or the injection of malicious content into the application's communication streams. This represents a direct violation of security principles that protect user privacy and data integrity in mobile applications.
From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-295, which addresses improper certificate validation in security protocols, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1041, which covers data compression and encryption for data exfiltration. The flaw demonstrates poor implementation of SSL/TLS security controls and represents a failure in the application's security architecture. Organizations should implement certificate pinning mechanisms to prevent such vulnerabilities, ensuring that applications only accept specific certificates or certificate authorities rather than accepting any valid certificate from any trusted authority. Additionally, regular security assessments and code reviews should be conducted to identify and remediate similar certificate validation issues in mobile applications, particularly those handling sensitive user data or conducting financial transactions.
The remediation approach requires immediate implementation of proper certificate verification mechanisms within the application's networking code. Developers should integrate certificate pinning strategies that validate certificates against known good certificates or public key fingerprints, rather than relying solely on the standard certificate chain validation process. Security updates should be deployed to all affected versions of the application, and users should be notified of the vulnerability and instructed to update to the secure version. Regular security audits of mobile applications should include comprehensive testing of SSL/TLS implementations to ensure proper certificate validation and prevent similar vulnerabilities from being introduced in future releases.