CVE-2014-5901 in Beauty Bible - App for Girls
Summary
by MITRE
The Beauty Bible - App for Girls (aka com.my.beauty.bible) application 5 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 • 09/05/2024
The vulnerability described in CVE-2014-5901 represents a critical security flaw in the Beauty Bible - App for Girls Android application version 5. This issue falls under the category of improper certificate validation, which is a well-documented weakness in mobile application security. The application fails to properly verify X.509 certificates from SSL servers, creating a significant attack surface that malicious actors can exploit to compromise user data and system integrity. This type of vulnerability is particularly dangerous in mobile applications where users often transmit sensitive personal information, financial data, or private communications through encrypted channels.
The technical flaw manifests in the application's failure to implement proper SSL certificate validation mechanisms. When an Android application establishes secure connections to remote servers, it should validate the server's X.509 certificate against a trusted certificate authority to ensure the authenticity of the endpoint. The Beauty Bible application bypasses this crucial step, allowing attackers to present fraudulent certificates that appear legitimate to the application. This weakness enables man-in-the-middle attacks where adversaries can intercept and modify communications between the mobile application and its backend services, potentially gaining access to user credentials, personal information, or other sensitive data. The vulnerability directly relates to CWE-295, which addresses improper certificate validation in security protocols, and represents a failure in the application's trust model implementation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data interception, as it fundamentally undermines the security assurances that users expect from mobile applications. Attackers can exploit this weakness to create convincing fake server endpoints that the application will trust without proper verification. This capability enables sophisticated attacks where malicious actors can impersonate legitimate services, redirect users to fraudulent websites, or simply eavesdrop on sensitive communications. The vulnerability affects all users of the application who engage in network communications, potentially exposing personal information, account credentials, or private conversations. From an attacker's perspective, this represents a low-effort, high-impact vector for data breaches, as the attack requires minimal technical expertise to execute successfully.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing robust certificate validation mechanisms within the application. Developers must ensure that all SSL connections properly validate server certificates against trusted certificate authorities and implement certificate pinning where appropriate to prevent certificate substitution attacks. The application should reject connections when certificate validation fails and provide appropriate error handling to alert users of potential security issues. Security best practices recommend implementing certificate validation that checks certificate expiration dates, verifies certificate chains, and ensures that certificates are issued by trusted authorities. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing network monitoring and intrusion detection systems to identify potential exploitation attempts. This vulnerability highlights the importance of following security standards such as those outlined in the OWASP Mobile Security Project and demonstrates the critical need for proper cryptographic implementation in mobile applications to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks and maintain user trust.