CVE-2014-5838 in Girls Games - Shoes Maker
Summary
by MITRE
The Girls Games - Shoes Maker (aka com.g6677.android.shoemaker) application 1.0.1 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.
VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/03/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-5838 affects the Girls Games - Shoes Maker Android application version 1.0.1, presenting a critical security flaw in the application's handling of secure communications. This issue falls under the category of improper certificate validation, which is classified as CWE-295 within the Common Weakness Enumeration framework. The application fails to properly validate X.509 certificates when establishing SSL connections to remote servers, creating a significant attack vector for malicious actors seeking to intercept or manipulate communications between the mobile application and its backend services.
The technical implementation flaw stems from the application's inability to perform proper SSL certificate verification during the secure communication handshake process. When an Android application establishes an HTTPS connection, it should validate the server's certificate against a trusted certificate authority to ensure the authenticity of the server. This validation process includes checking certificate expiration dates, verifying the certificate chain, and confirming that the certificate was issued by a trusted authority. The Girls Games application bypasses these critical security checks, allowing attackers to present fraudulent certificates that the application will accept without question.
This vulnerability creates severe operational impacts for users and organizations relying on the application for data transmission. The man-in-the-middle attack capability enables attackers to intercept sensitive user information, including personal data, login credentials, payment information, and other confidential communications between the mobile device and the application's servers. The attack scenario involves an attacker positioned between the user's device and the server, capable of presenting a malicious certificate that appears legitimate to the vulnerable application. This weakness is particularly dangerous in mobile environments where users may connect to public Wi-Fi networks, increasing the attack surface for such man-in-the-middle scenarios.
The security implications extend beyond simple data interception, as this vulnerability can facilitate more sophisticated attacks such as credential harvesting, session hijacking, and data manipulation. Attackers can leverage this flaw to establish persistent access to user accounts and sensitive information stored within the application's backend systems. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to techniques involving credential access and initial access through network sniffing and man-in-the-middle attacks. The lack of certificate verification represents a fundamental failure in the application's security architecture, violating basic principles of secure communication implementation. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including certificate pinning, proper SSL validation, and comprehensive security testing of mobile applications to prevent such vulnerabilities from being exploited in real-world scenarios.