CVE-2014-5926 in Mobile Banking
Summary
by MITRE
The DCU Mobile Banking (aka com.Vertifi.Mobile.P211391825) 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 • 09/07/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-5926 affects the DCU Mobile Banking Android application version 2, representing a critical security flaw in the mobile banking ecosystem. This issue resides within the application's cryptographic implementation and demonstrates a fundamental failure in secure communication protocols that directly impacts financial security for users. The vulnerability specifically targets the certificate verification mechanism that should establish trust between the mobile client and banking servers, creating an exploitable gap in the application's security architecture.
The technical flaw manifests as the absence of proper X.509 certificate validation within the SSL/TLS communication stack of the mobile banking application. This weakness allows attackers to perform man-in-the-middle attacks by presenting fraudulent certificates that appear legitimate to the vulnerable application. The application fails to validate certificate chains, check certificate expiration dates, or verify certificate signatures against trusted root authorities, essentially disabling the entire certificate verification process that forms the foundation of secure communications in financial applications.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates a severe risk landscape for both end users and the financial institution operating the mobile banking service. Attackers can intercept and modify sensitive financial transactions, steal user credentials, access account information, and potentially redirect funds without detection. The impact extends beyond individual user compromise to potentially affect the institution's reputation, regulatory compliance, and financial integrity. This vulnerability directly aligns with CWE-295, which addresses "Improper Certificate Validation," and represents a classic example of how weak cryptographic implementations can undermine entire security frameworks.
The attack surface for this vulnerability is particularly concerning given the mobile banking context, where users frequently conduct financial transactions in public environments. The lack of certificate verification means that even if users believe they are communicating with legitimate banking servers, they may unknowingly interact with attacker-controlled intermediaries. This vulnerability maps to several ATT&CK techniques including T1041, which covers data from network shared modules, and T1566, covering phishing with social engineering tactics that can exploit this weakness to establish initial access points. Organizations should immediately implement certificate pinning mechanisms, update to secure versions of the application, and conduct comprehensive security assessments of their mobile banking platforms. The vulnerability underscores the critical importance of proper cryptographic implementation in financial applications and serves as a reminder of the devastating consequences that can result from inadequate security controls in mobile financial services.