CVE-2014-5781 in Bouncy Bill Easter Tales
Summary
by MITRE
The Bouncy Bill Easter Tales (aka mominis.Generic_Android.Bouncy_Bill_Easter_Tales) application 1.0.4 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 • 09/01/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-5781 affects the Bouncy Bill Easter Tales Android application version 1.0.4, representing a critical security flaw in the application's secure communication implementation. This issue falls under the category of insufficient certificate validation, which is classified as CWE-295 within the Common Weakness Enumeration framework. The application fails to properly validate X.509 certificates presented by SSL servers during secure connections, creating a significant security gap that undermines the integrity of encrypted communications between the mobile application and remote servers.
The technical flaw manifests in the application's failure to perform proper certificate chain validation and hostname verification during SSL/TLS handshakes. When an Android application establishes a secure connection to a server, it should validate that the server's certificate is issued by a trusted Certificate Authority and that the certificate's subject matches the server's domain name. In this case, the Bouncy Bill Easter Tales application bypasses these critical validation steps, allowing attackers to present fraudulent certificates that the application will accept without question. This vulnerability directly enables man-in-the-middle attacks where malicious actors can intercept and modify communications between the application and legitimate servers.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data interception, as it creates opportunities for comprehensive attack vectors that align with several tactics described in the MITRE ATT&CK framework. Attackers can exploit this weakness to perform credential theft, session hijacking, and data exfiltration from users of the affected application. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous in mobile environments where users may be accessing sensitive information or performing transactions over potentially insecure networks. The lack of certificate verification means that attackers can create convincing fake servers that appear legitimate to the application, potentially leading to unauthorized access to user accounts, financial data, or personal information stored on or accessed through the application.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing proper SSL certificate validation within the application's networking layer. Developers should ensure that all SSL connections perform thorough certificate chain validation, including checking certificate expiration dates, verifying certificate signatures against trusted CAs, and confirming that the certificate's subject matches the target server's hostname. The implementation should follow established security best practices such as those outlined in OWASP Mobile Security Project guidelines and should incorporate certificate pinning techniques where appropriate. Additionally, the application should be updated to use modern SSL/TLS protocols and cipher suites that provide stronger encryption and better security guarantees. Regular security audits and code reviews should be conducted to identify and remediate similar certificate validation issues in other components of the application's security infrastructure.