CVE-2014-5964 in MegaBank
Summary
by MITRE
The MegaBank (aka com.megabank.mobilebank) application 2.0 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 described in CVE-2014-5964 represents a critical security flaw in the MegaBank mobile banking application version 2.0 for Android devices. This issue falls under the category of improper certificate validation, where the application fails to properly verify the authenticity of SSL certificates presented by servers during secure communications. The flaw creates a significant attack surface that directly violates fundamental security principles of secure communication protocols and mobile application security.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the application's failure to perform proper X.509 certificate chain validation during SSL/TLS connections. When an Android application establishes a secure connection to a server, it should validate the server's certificate against a trusted certificate authority and verify that the certificate is valid for the domain being accessed. The MegaBank application bypasses these critical validation steps, allowing attackers to present malicious certificates that appear legitimate to the application. This weakness specifically relates to CWE-295, which addresses improper certificate validation in security protocols, and represents a classic example of a man-in-the-middle attack vector.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and directly threatens user financial security and data confidentiality. Attackers can exploit this flaw by intercepting communications between the mobile banking application and legitimate banking servers, presenting forged certificates that the application accepts without proper verification. This allows malicious actors to eavesdrop on sensitive financial transactions, capture login credentials, and potentially redirect users to fraudulent banking portals. The vulnerability essentially eliminates the security benefits of SSL/TLS encryption for the application, making it trivial for attackers to gain unauthorized access to user accounts and financial data. The attack surface is particularly dangerous given that the application handles sensitive banking information and user credentials.
This vulnerability aligns with several ATT&CK framework techniques including T1046 for network service scanning and T1566 for credential harvesting through phishing or man-in-the-middle attacks. The lack of certificate verification creates an environment where attackers can seamlessly impersonate legitimate banking services without detection. Organizations should implement certificate pinning mechanisms to prevent the acceptance of unauthorized certificates, ensure proper SSL/TLS implementation with certificate validation, and conduct regular security assessments of mobile applications. The remediation process requires developers to integrate proper certificate validation routines, implement certificate pinning where appropriate, and ensure that all network communications validate server certificates against trusted authorities. Additionally, security teams should monitor for potential exploitation attempts and consider implementing network-based detection measures to identify suspicious certificate validation patterns that may indicate active attacks against the vulnerable application.