CVE-2014-5833 in FriendCaster Chat
Summary
by MITRE
The FriendCaster Chat (aka com.handmark.friendcaster.chat) application 2 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-2014-5833 affects the FriendCaster Chat application for Android, specifically version 2, and represents a critical security flaw in the application's SSL/TLS certificate verification process. This weakness stems from the application's failure to properly validate X.509 certificates presented by SSL servers during secure communication sessions. The absence of certificate verification creates a significant attack surface that enables malicious actors to execute man-in-the-middle attacks against unsuspecting users. The vulnerability directly violates fundamental security principles that govern secure communications and represents a clear deviation from industry best practices for mobile application security.
The technical flaw manifests in the application's inability to perform proper certificate chain validation and hostname verification during SSL handshakes. When an Android application establishes secure connections to remote servers, it should validate that the server's certificate is issued by a trusted certificate authority, that the certificate has not expired, and that the certificate's hostname matches the server being accessed. In the case of FriendCaster Chat, these validations are completely bypassed, allowing attackers to present fraudulent certificates that the application accepts without question. This vulnerability is classified under CWE-295 which specifically addresses improper certificate validation in secure communication protocols. The flaw essentially disables the entire SSL/TLS security infrastructure that the application relies upon to protect user data.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and multifaceted, particularly when considering the ATT&CK framework's perspective on credential access and data interception techniques. An attacker positioned within the network traffic path can easily intercept communications between the application and its servers, presenting a malicious certificate that the application accepts as legitimate. This enables the attacker to decrypt and modify sensitive user data including chat messages, personal information, and potentially authentication credentials. The vulnerability affects all users of the application who engage in secure communications, making it a high-impact issue that could lead to widespread privacy violations and data breaches. The attack vector is particularly dangerous because it requires no special privileges or complex exploitation techniques, making it accessible to even moderately skilled adversaries.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability must address both immediate remediation and long-term security improvements. The primary fix involves implementing proper certificate verification mechanisms within the application's SSL/TLS implementation, ensuring that all X.509 certificates are validated against trusted certificate authorities and that hostname matching is performed correctly. Developers should leverage Android's built-in certificate pinning capabilities and avoid using custom certificate validation logic that could introduce additional weaknesses. Security hardening should include implementing certificate transparency checks and ensuring that the application does not accept self-signed certificates or certificates from untrusted authorities. Organizations should also consider implementing network-level monitoring to detect potential man-in-the-middle attacks and establish proper security testing protocols including static code analysis and dynamic application security testing to identify similar vulnerabilities in other applications. The remediation efforts should align with NIST SP 800-52 guidelines for certificate management and security best practices for mobile application development.