CVE-2014-5986 in Educational Puzzles - Letters
Summary
by MITRE
The Educational Puzzles - Letters (aka com.EducationalPuzzlesLetters) 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 • 09/08/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-5986 affects the Educational Puzzles - Letters Android application version 2, presenting a critical security flaw in the application's handling of secure communications. This issue resides within the application's implementation of SSL/TLS certificate verification mechanisms, specifically failing to properly validate X.509 certificates presented by remote servers. The absence of certificate verification creates a significant attack surface that enables malicious actors to exploit the application's trust model and compromise the integrity of communications between the mobile device and backend services.
The technical flaw manifests as a complete absence of certificate pinning or validation logic within the application's network communication stack. When the application attempts to establish secure connections to remote servers, it does not perform the necessary cryptographic verification steps that should confirm the authenticity of server certificates against trusted certificate authorities. This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-295, which addresses improper certificate validation, and represents a fundamental failure in implementing secure communication protocols. The application's behavior creates a trust relationship with any certificate presented by a server, regardless of whether that certificate is valid, expired, self-signed, or issued by an untrusted authority.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability exposes users to sophisticated man-in-the-middle attacks that can result in complete data compromise. Attackers can intercept communications between the application and its servers by presenting crafted certificates that appear legitimate to the vulnerable application. This allows them to eavesdrop on sensitive user data, modify communications in transit, and potentially gain access to user accounts, personal information, or educational content that the application handles. The impact extends beyond simple data theft to include potential credential harvesting, session hijacking, and the ability to inject malicious content into the application's communication channels. This vulnerability particularly affects educational applications that may handle sensitive student data, making the security implications even more severe.
The security implications of this vulnerability align with ATT&CK technique T1573.002, which covers "Encrypted Channel: Asymmetric Cryptography," as the application fails to properly implement the asymmetric cryptographic verification required for secure communications. Mitigation strategies should focus on implementing proper certificate validation mechanisms including certificate pinning, establishing trust with specific certificate authorities, and implementing robust certificate verification routines. Organizations should also consider implementing network monitoring to detect anomalous certificate behavior and ensure that all mobile applications handling sensitive data properly validate SSL/TLS certificates. The vulnerability underscores the critical importance of secure coding practices and the necessity of implementing proper cryptographic verification in mobile applications, particularly those designed for educational environments where user data protection is paramount.