CVE-2014-6735 in imagine Next bmobile
Summary
by MITRE
The imagine Next bmobile (aka com.conduit.app_51c3c19581af465092327dd25591b224.app) application 1.7.10.243 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 • 09/14/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-6735 affects the imagine Next bmobile Android application version 1.7.10.243, representing a critical security flaw in the application's SSL/TLS certificate verification process. This weakness stems from the application's failure to properly validate X.509 certificates presented by SSL servers during secure communications, creating a significant attack surface that adversaries can exploit to compromise user data integrity and confidentiality. The vulnerability directly impacts the application's ability to establish trust relationships with backend servers, fundamentally undermining the security model designed to protect sensitive information transmitted between mobile clients and web services.
The technical flaw manifests as a complete absence of certificate pinning or validation mechanisms within the application's network communication stack. When the application establishes SSL connections to remote servers, it fails to perform essential certificate verification steps including checking certificate authority signatures, validating certificate expiration dates, and ensuring proper domain name matching. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-295 category for "Improper Certificate Validation" and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1046 for network service scanning and T1566 for credential harvesting through man-in-the-middle attacks. The application's trust model becomes completely compromised, allowing attackers to present forged certificates that appear legitimate to the vulnerable client application, thereby enabling unauthorized access to sensitive user data and communications.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data interception to encompass comprehensive session hijacking and identity theft capabilities for malicious actors. Attackers can exploit this weakness to perform man-in-the-middle attacks by deploying rogue SSL servers with malicious certificates that the application accepts without proper verification. This creates opportunities for stealing user credentials, accessing personal information, intercepting financial transactions, and conducting surveillance operations against vulnerable users. The attack vector is particularly concerning because it operates at the application layer, meaning that users may remain unaware of the compromise while their sensitive data is being systematically exfiltrated. The vulnerability affects all users of the specific application version and poses a persistent threat as long as the flawed implementation remains in place.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2014-6735 require immediate implementation of proper SSL certificate validation mechanisms within the application. Developers must implement certificate pinning techniques that validate server certificates against known good certificates or public key fingerprints, ensuring that only trusted certificates are accepted for secure communications. The application should enforce proper certificate chain validation including checking certificate authority signatures, verifying certificate expiration dates, and ensuring domain name matching between the certificate and the target server. Security patches should include implementing robust certificate verification routines that align with industry standards such as those recommended in the OWASP Mobile Security Project guidelines for secure communication. Additionally, organizations should consider implementing network-level monitoring to detect and alert on suspicious certificate behavior and establish a comprehensive vulnerability management process to prevent similar issues in future application deployments. The fix must address the root cause by ensuring that all SSL/TLS connections undergo proper certificate validation before any sensitive data exchange occurs, thereby restoring the intended security model of the application.