CVE-2014-6677 in Ticket Round Up
Summary
by MITRE
The Ticket Round Up (aka com.xcr.android.ticketroundupapp) application 3.0.1 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.
Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/12/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-6677 affects the Ticket Round Up Android application version 3.0.1, representing a critical security flaw in the application's implementation of secure communications. This issue stems from the application's failure to properly validate X.509 certificates during SSL/TLS connections, creating a significant attack surface that malicious actors can exploit to compromise user data. The vulnerability specifically impacts the application's ability to establish trust with remote servers, fundamentally undermining the security assurances that SSL/TLS protocols are designed to provide.
The technical flaw manifests as a complete absence of certificate verification mechanisms within the application's network communication stack. When the Ticket Round Up application establishes connections to remote servers, it fails to perform the essential validation steps that should confirm the authenticity and integrity of the server's X.509 certificate. This omission allows attackers to intercept communications and present forged certificates that the application will accept without proper scrutiny. The vulnerability directly violates established security practices for mobile application development and represents a clear deviation from industry standards for secure coding practices.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data interception, creating opportunities for comprehensive man-in-the-middle attacks that can compromise sensitive user information. Attackers exploiting this flaw can successfully spoof legitimate servers and gain access to personal data, financial information, or other confidential details that users expect to be protected through secure communications. The vulnerability affects the fundamental security model of the application, potentially allowing attackers to modify data in transit, capture credentials, or redirect users to malicious endpoints without the application's knowledge or protection.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-295, which addresses "Improper Certificate Validation," and represents a classic example of weak cryptographic implementation in mobile applications. The issue also maps to ATT&CK technique T1041, which covers "Exfiltration Over C2 Channel," as attackers can leverage the compromised communication channel to extract sensitive data. Additionally, it corresponds to T1566, "Phishing," as the compromised application can be used to facilitate more sophisticated social engineering attacks by providing attackers with the means to impersonate legitimate services.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate implementation of proper certificate validation mechanisms within the application. The development team must implement certificate pinning, which involves hardcoding expected certificate fingerprints or public keys to verify against server certificates. Additionally, the application should incorporate robust certificate chain validation that checks certificate authorities, expiration dates, and revocation status. Regular security audits and code reviews should be implemented to prevent similar issues in future releases, while the application should be updated to use modern SSL/TLS protocol versions and cipher suites that provide adequate security guarantees. Organizations should also consider implementing network monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts and establish incident response procedures for handling security breaches that may result from such vulnerabilities.