CVE-2014-5954 in State Bank Anywhere
Summary
by MITRE
The State Bank Anywhere (aka com.sbi.SBIFreedomPlus) application 2.0.1 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.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/08/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-5954 affects the State Bank Anywhere mobile application version 2.0.1 for Android devices, representing a critical security flaw in the application's cryptographic implementation. This issue resides within the SSL/TLS certificate validation mechanism, where the application fails to properly verify X.509 certificates presented by SSL servers during secure communications. The flaw creates a dangerous security gap that directly violates fundamental principles of secure communication and authentication. According to CWE-295, this represents a weakness in certificate validation where the application does not properly validate the authenticity of SSL certificates, making it susceptible to various cryptographic attacks that compromise the integrity of secure communications.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the application's failure to perform proper certificate chain validation and trust verification. When establishing secure connections to banking servers, the application should validate that the presented certificate is issued by a trusted Certificate Authority and that the certificate has not been tampered with or forged. However, the application's code lacks proper certificate verification logic, allowing any malicious actor to present a crafted certificate that appears legitimate to the application. This flaw enables attackers to perform man-in-the-middle attacks by intercepting communications and presenting forged certificates that the application accepts without proper validation, as outlined in the ATT&CK technique T1573.002 for securing communications channels.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and directly affects the confidentiality and integrity of sensitive financial data transmitted through the application. Mobile banking applications handle highly sensitive information including account numbers, transaction details, personal identification data, and authentication credentials that are at risk when certificate verification is bypassed. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability to intercept and modify financial transactions, steal user credentials, or perform unauthorized account access. The vulnerability affects not just individual user data but also compromises the overall security posture of the financial institution's digital banking infrastructure. This weakness creates a pathway for attackers to establish persistent access to banking services and potentially scale their attacks across multiple users within the same application ecosystem.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing proper certificate validation mechanisms within the application's SSL/TLS implementation. The fix requires the application to enforce strict certificate chain validation, including checking certificate signatures, verifying certificate expiration dates, and ensuring certificates are issued by trusted Certificate Authorities. Organizations should implement certificate pinning techniques where the application maintains a whitelist of trusted certificates or public keys, preventing the acceptance of forged certificates even if they appear valid. Additionally, the application should incorporate proper error handling for certificate validation failures and implement robust logging mechanisms to detect and respond to potential certificate validation attempts. This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of following secure coding practices as outlined in OWASP Mobile Top 10 M3 and should be addressed immediately through comprehensive code review and security testing procedures to ensure proper cryptographic implementation in mobile financial applications.