CVE-2014-5970 in BabyBus
Summary
by MITRE
The BabyBus (aka com.sinyee.babybus.concert.ru) application 3.91 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-2014-5970 affects the BabyBus Android application version 3.91, which is designed for children's entertainment and educational content. This application fails to properly validate SSL/TLS certificates during secure communications, creating a critical security flaw that undermines the integrity of encrypted data transmission. The issue stems from the application's implementation of SSL certificate verification, which is a fundamental security control that should prevent unauthorized parties from intercepting or manipulating network communications. When an application does not verify X.509 certificates, it essentially removes the cryptographic assurance that data transmitted between the client and server remains confidential and authentic.
This vulnerability creates a significant man-in-the-middle attack vector that allows malicious actors to impersonate legitimate servers and establish fraudulent secure connections with the application. The flaw enables attackers to present crafted SSL certificates that the application will accept without proper validation, effectively breaking the trust model that SSL/TLS protocols are designed to maintain. Such an attack could result in the interception of sensitive user data, including personal information, communication contents, or other confidential data that the application might transmit or receive during its operation. The attack scenario becomes particularly concerning given that the application targets children and their families, potentially exposing vulnerable user demographics to unauthorized data access and privacy violations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data interception, as it fundamentally compromises the security architecture of the application's network communications. The absence of proper certificate validation means that even if the application attempts to establish secure connections, those connections can be easily subverted by attackers who can generate or obtain valid-looking certificates that bypass the application's security checks. This flaw aligns with CWE-295, which specifically addresses improper certificate validation in security protocols, and represents a clear violation of secure coding practices that are essential for maintaining trust in network communications. The vulnerability also maps to ATT&CK technique T1041, which covers data compression and encryption, as the application's failure to properly verify certificates undermines the encryption security measures that should protect user data.
Security mitigations for this vulnerability require immediate implementation of proper SSL certificate validation mechanisms within the application. Developers must ensure that all SSL/TLS connections perform thorough certificate verification against trusted certificate authorities, implement certificate pinning where appropriate, and maintain up-to-date certificate stores to prevent acceptance of fraudulent certificates. The application should enforce certificate chain validation, check certificate expiration dates, and validate certificate subject names against expected server identities. Additionally, implementing certificate transparency measures and regular security audits of network communication components would help prevent similar issues from arising in future versions. Organizations should also consider deploying network monitoring solutions to detect potential man-in-the-middle attacks and establish incident response procedures to address potential exploitation of this vulnerability.