CVE-2014-5713 in Telly-watch The Good Stuff
Summary
by MITRE
The Telly - Watch the good stuff (aka com.telly) application 2.5.1 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-2014-5713 affects the Telly Android application version 2.5.1, specifically targeting its implementation of secure communication protocols. This issue represents a critical flaw in the application's security architecture where the software fails to properly validate X.509 certificates during SSL/TLS connections. The absence of certificate verification creates a significant security gap that exposes users to sophisticated man-in-the-middle attacks. Attackers can exploit this weakness by presenting maliciously crafted certificates to establish fraudulent connections with the application, thereby compromising the integrity and confidentiality of data transmitted between the user's device and remote servers.
The technical implementation flaw stems from the application's failure to perform proper certificate chain validation and hostname verification during SSL handshakes. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-295, which specifically addresses improper certificate validation in security protocols. The application's codebase likely omits essential certificate validation routines or implements them incorrectly, allowing any certificate to be accepted without proper authentication of the certificate authority or verification of the certificate's validity period and subject name. This weakness creates an attack surface where malicious actors can intercept and manipulate communications without detection, potentially accessing sensitive user data, session tokens, or personal information.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data interception, as it fundamentally undermines the trust model that secure communications rely upon. When users interact with the application, they cannot be certain that they are communicating with legitimate servers, creating opportunities for credential theft, financial data compromise, and privacy violations. The vulnerability affects the application's ability to maintain secure channels for user authentication, content delivery, and any data transmission that requires encrypted communication. This weakness is particularly concerning in mobile applications where users may be accessing sensitive information over public networks, making the attack vector more accessible to threat actors. The vulnerability also impacts the application's compliance with industry security standards and best practices for mobile application security.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate implementation of proper SSL certificate validation mechanisms. The application must be updated to perform comprehensive certificate chain validation, including verification of certificate signatures, expiration dates, and hostname matching against the server's certificate. Security patches should enforce certificate pinning where appropriate, and implement proper error handling for certificate validation failures. Organizations should also consider implementing network-level monitoring to detect unusual certificate behavior and establish secure communication protocols that align with NIST SP 800-57 guidelines for cryptographic key management. Additionally, the application should be reviewed against ATT&CK framework techniques related to credential access and defense evasion, ensuring that the implementation addresses both immediate security gaps and broader threat landscape considerations. Regular security audits and penetration testing should be conducted to verify that certificate validation mechanisms remain effective against evolving attack techniques.