CVE-2014-6024 in Flurry-analytics-android
Summary
by MITRE
The Flurry library before 3.4.0 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 • 09/10/2024
The Flurry library vulnerability CVE-2014-6024 represents a critical security flaw in mobile application analytics software that affected versions prior to 3.4.0 for Android platforms. This vulnerability resides in the library's implementation of secure communication protocols, specifically within its handling of SSL/TLS certificate validation mechanisms. The flaw creates a significant attack surface that enables malicious actors to exploit the absence of proper certificate verification during secure connections between mobile applications and analytics servers.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from the library's failure to perform X.509 certificate validation during SSL handshakes, which constitutes a fundamental breakdown in the security infrastructure designed to protect data transmission. This omission allows attackers to perform man-in-the-middle attacks by presenting fraudulent certificates that appear legitimate to the vulnerable application. The flaw directly relates to CWE-295, which addresses improper certificate validation, and represents a classic example of insufficient cryptographic validation in mobile applications. When applications using the affected Flurry library establish secure connections, they accept any certificate presented by the server without proper verification of the certificate authority or certificate chain integrity.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data interception, as it enables attackers to not only eavesdrop on communications but also to actively manipulate data flowing between mobile applications and analytics servers. This capability allows adversaries to inject malicious data, modify analytics reports, or even redirect application behavior by exploiting the trust relationship that should exist between the client application and the analytics service. The vulnerability affects any Android application that incorporates the Flurry library version 3.3.0 or earlier, potentially exposing sensitive user data, application usage patterns, and business intelligence that organizations rely on for decision-making processes. Security researchers have documented how this vulnerability can be exploited in real-world scenarios to compromise user privacy and corporate data integrity.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should immediately implement mitigations including upgrading to Flurry library version 3.4.0 or later, which includes proper certificate validation mechanisms. The remediation process requires comprehensive application testing to ensure compatibility with the updated library version while maintaining existing analytics functionality. Security teams should also conduct thorough vulnerability assessments of all mobile applications that utilize Flurry or similar analytics libraries to identify potential exposure. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing network-level monitoring to detect anomalous certificate behavior and establish incident response procedures for potential exploitation attempts. This vulnerability serves as a critical reminder of the importance of cryptographic best practices in mobile application development and the necessity of regular security audits to identify and remediate similar issues before they can be exploited by threat actors. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under the T1046 technique for network service scanning and T1566 for credential access through man-in-the-middle attacks, highlighting its potential for broader exploitation within enterprise networks.