CVE-2014-5733 in Shop Love
Summary
by MITRE
The Shop Love (aka com.waterwish.shoplove) application 1.05 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 • 08/30/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-5733 resides within the Shop Love Android application version 1.05, specifically manifesting as a critical security flaw in the application's handling of secure communications. This issue represents a fundamental failure in the application's implementation of SSL/TLS certificate validation mechanisms, creating a pathway for sophisticated attackers to compromise the integrity of data transmission between the mobile application and remote servers. The vulnerability directly impacts the application's ability to establish trust with legitimate services, as it fails to perform essential certificate verification procedures that are standard practice in secure mobile application development.
The technical flaw stems from the application's complete omission of X.509 certificate validation during SSL/TLS handshakes, which violates established security protocols and best practices for mobile application security. This absence of certificate verification creates a man-in-the-middle attack vector where malicious actors can intercept communications and present forged certificates that appear legitimate to the vulnerable application. The vulnerability is classified as a weakness in certificate validation, aligning with CWE-295 which addresses improper certificate validation in security protocols. The application essentially trusts any certificate presented by a server without performing the necessary checks against trusted certificate authorities or validating certificate chains, making it susceptible to attacks that exploit this trust model.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data interception, as it enables attackers to obtain sensitive information through crafted certificates that can masquerade as legitimate services. Mobile applications that rely on secure communication channels for user authentication, transaction processing, or data synchronization become particularly vulnerable when they fail to validate server certificates properly. This weakness creates opportunities for attackers to perform credential theft, session hijacking, or data manipulation attacks that can compromise user privacy and application integrity. The vulnerability affects not only the specific application but also represents a broader category of security flaws that can impact any mobile application lacking proper SSL certificate validation mechanisms.
Security mitigations for this vulnerability require immediate implementation of proper certificate validation procedures within the application's network communication layer. Developers must ensure that SSL/TLS connections perform comprehensive certificate validation including chain of trust verification, certificate expiration checks, and hostname validation against the presented certificate. The remediation process should involve implementing standard security libraries and frameworks that enforce certificate validation, such as those provided by Android's Network Security Policy or third-party SSL validation libraries. Organizations should also consider implementing certificate pinning strategies where appropriate to further strengthen the security posture against certificate-based attacks, as recommended by the mobile security guidelines established by industry standards organizations and security frameworks.