CVE-2014-5825 in Guess The Movie
Summary
by MITRE
The Guess The Movie (aka com.june.guessthemovie) application 2.982 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 • 09/02/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-5825 affects the Guess The Movie Android application version 2.982, presenting a critical security flaw in the application's SSL certificate verification mechanism. This weakness falls under the category of improper certificate validation, which is a well-documented security vulnerability that undermines the fundamental security assurances provided by Transport Layer Security protocols. The application fails to properly validate X.509 certificates presented by SSL servers during communication, creating a significant attack surface that malicious actors can exploit to compromise user data integrity.
The technical flaw manifests in the application's failure to implement proper certificate chain validation, certificate expiration checking, or hostname verification processes that are standard requirements for secure SSL/TLS communications. This vulnerability directly relates to CWE-295, which addresses "Improper Certificate Validation," and represents a classic example of how mobile applications can bypass essential security mechanisms designed to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks. The absence of certificate verification allows attackers to present fraudulent certificates that appear legitimate to the application, enabling them to intercept and manipulate communications between the mobile client and remote servers.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability exposes users to significant risks including credential theft, data interception, and unauthorized access to sensitive information. Attackers can exploit this weakness to establish fraudulent connections with the application servers, potentially gaining access to user accounts, personal information, or other sensitive data that the application handles. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous in mobile environments where applications often communicate with backend services to retrieve game data, user profiles, or other sensitive information. This flaw can be leveraged to perform session hijacking attacks, data exfiltration, or to inject malicious content into the application's communication streams.
The security implications extend beyond simple data interception, as this vulnerability can facilitate more sophisticated attacks such as credential harvesting, session manipulation, and service disruption. Mobile applications that rely on SSL/TLS for secure communications are particularly vulnerable when they fail to validate certificates properly, as this creates a trust boundary that can be easily compromised. This vulnerability also aligns with ATT&CK technique T1046, which covers "Network Service Scanning' and T1566, 'Phishing', as attackers can leverage the compromised communication channels to launch further attacks. The lack of certificate verification essentially removes the cryptographic protection that should prevent attackers from masquerading as legitimate servers, making the entire application communication stack vulnerable to exploitation.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing proper SSL certificate validation mechanisms within the application. Developers must ensure that the application validates certificate chains against trusted Certificate Authorities, checks certificate expiration dates, and verifies hostname matches to prevent certificate spoofing attacks. The fix involves implementing robust certificate pinning mechanisms, using proper SSL/TLS library configurations, and ensuring that all network communications validate server certificates through established security protocols. Organizations should also consider implementing network monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts and ensure that certificate validation is properly enforced in all application components that handle secure communications. Regular security assessments and code reviews should be conducted to prevent similar issues from emerging in future application versions.