CVE-2014-5735 in Buy A Gift
Summary
by MITRE
The Buy A Gift (aka com.wBuyAGift) application 13529.90084 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-2014-5735 affects the Buy A Gift Android application version 13529.90084, representing a critical security flaw in the application's implementation of secure communication protocols. This weakness stems from the application's failure to properly validate X.509 certificates during SSL/TLS connections, creating a significant attack surface that malicious actors can exploit to compromise user data integrity and confidentiality. The vulnerability specifically targets the certificate verification process, which is fundamental to establishing trust in secure communications between mobile applications and remote servers.
The technical flaw manifests as a missing certificate validation mechanism within the application's SSL implementation, allowing the application to accept any certificate presented by a server without proper authentication. This represents a direct violation of standard security practices and constitutes a CWE-295 vulnerability, specifically related to improper certificate validation. The absence of certificate pinning, trust chain verification, and hostname validation creates multiple entry points for attackers to perform man-in-the-middle attacks. When the application establishes SSL connections, it fails to verify that the server certificate is issued by a trusted certificate authority, matches the expected hostname, or has not been revoked, thereby undermining the entire SSL/TLS security framework.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data interception, as it enables attackers to not only eavesdrop on communications but also to actively manipulate data in transit. Mobile applications relying on such insecure SSL implementations become susceptible to credential theft, session hijacking, and sensitive data compromise including personal information, payment details, and private communications. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1046 which involves the use of man-in-the-middle attacks to intercept and modify network traffic. The attack vector is particularly concerning for applications handling financial transactions or personal data, as the compromised application can unknowingly transmit user credentials or sensitive information to attacker-controlled servers that present fraudulent certificates.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate implementation of proper certificate validation mechanisms within the application. Developers must implement certificate pinning to ensure that only specific certificates or certificate authorities are accepted, along with proper hostname verification to confirm that certificates match the expected server names. The application should incorporate robust trust chain validation, including certificate revocation checking and proper handling of certificate expiration dates. Additionally, implementing certificate transparency checks and regular security audits of SSL/TLS implementations will help prevent similar vulnerabilities in future releases. Organizations should also consider implementing network monitoring to detect potential certificate-based attacks and establish incident response procedures for rapid remediation of such security flaws. This vulnerability underscores the critical importance of following security best practices in mobile application development and the necessity of comprehensive security testing throughout the software development lifecycle.