CVE-2014-5712 in Turbo River Racing Free
Summary
by MITRE
The Turbo River Racing Free (aka com.tektite.androidgames.trrfree) application 1.07 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-2014-5712 affects the Turbo River Racing Free Android application version 1.07, presenting a critical security flaw in the application's SSL/TLS certificate validation mechanism. This weakness stems from the application's failure to properly verify X.509 certificates presented by SSL servers during secure communications, creating a significant attack surface that adversaries can exploit to compromise the application's security posture. The vulnerability specifically targets the certificate verification process that should establish trust between the mobile application and remote servers, fundamentally undermining the security model designed to protect sensitive data transmission.
The technical flaw manifests as a complete absence of certificate pinning or proper validation procedures within the application's network communication stack. When the application establishes SSL connections to remote servers, it does not perform the necessary cryptographic verification steps that would normally confirm the authenticity of server certificates. This omission allows attackers to perform man-in-the-middle attacks by presenting fraudulent certificates that appear legitimate to the vulnerable application. The flaw essentially disables the cryptographic security measures that should prevent unauthorized parties from intercepting or modifying communications between the mobile application and its backend services.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data interception, potentially enabling attackers to access sensitive user information, session tokens, and other confidential data transmitted through the application's network connections. Mobile applications that rely on secure communication channels for user authentication, payment processing, or personal data handling become particularly vulnerable to exploitation. The attack vector requires minimal sophistication, as adversaries only need to position themselves between the application and its servers to intercept and manipulate communications without raising suspicion from the vulnerable client application. This vulnerability directly violates fundamental security principles outlined in the OWASP Mobile Top 10 and represents a clear violation of secure coding practices for mobile application development.
Organizations and developers should implement comprehensive certificate validation mechanisms that align with industry standards including the NIST SP 800-52 guidelines for certificate management and the CWE-295 vulnerability category that specifically addresses improper certificate validation. The recommended mitigations include implementing proper certificate pinning strategies, utilizing trusted certificate authorities, and incorporating robust certificate validation libraries such as those provided by the Android Security team. Additionally, the vulnerability highlights the importance of following ATT&CK framework tactics related to credential access and defense evasion, as attackers can leverage this weakness to establish persistent access to user accounts and sensitive data. Regular security assessments and code reviews should specifically target SSL/TLS implementation practices to prevent similar vulnerabilities from being introduced into mobile applications during development cycles.