CVE-2014-6760 in Harem Thief Dating
Summary
by MITRE
The Harem Thief Dating (aka com.haremthief.haremthief) application 1.2.1 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.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/15/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-6760 affects the Harem Thief Dating Android application version 1.2.1, representing a critical security flaw in the application's implementation of secure communication protocols. This issue stems from the application's failure to properly validate X.509 certificates during SSL/TLS connections, creating a significant attack surface that adversaries can exploit to compromise user data and system integrity. 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 application establishes connections to remote servers, it fails to validate the server certificates against trusted certificate authorities or perform any form of certificate chain validation. This omission allows attackers to intercept communications and present forged certificates that the application will accept without question. The vulnerability directly relates to CWE-295, which addresses improper certificate validation, and represents a classic example of weak cryptographic implementation that violates fundamental security principles. The application essentially operates without any form of server authentication, making it susceptible to man-in-the-middle attacks where malicious actors can position themselves between the client and server to intercept, modify, or steal sensitive information.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data interception to encompass comprehensive compromise of user privacy and security. Attackers can exploit this weakness to obtain sensitive user information including personal details, login credentials, and potentially financial data that users might transmit through the application. The vulnerability affects all users of the application who engage in network communications, creating a persistent threat that remains active as long as the vulnerable version remains in use. This weakness particularly impacts the application's ability to protect user data in transit, violating security principles outlined in the NIST SP 800-52 standard for certificate management and the OWASP Mobile Top 10 security requirements for proper cryptographic implementation.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate remediation of the application's network security implementation. The primary solution involves implementing proper X.509 certificate validation procedures that include certificate chain verification, hostname checking, and validation against trusted certificate authorities. Security patches should enforce certificate pinning where appropriate and ensure that all SSL/TLS connections perform thorough certificate validation before establishing secure communication channels. Organizations should also consider implementing certificate transparency monitoring and regular security audits to detect similar issues in other applications. The remediation efforts should align with industry best practices established by the CA/Browser Forum guidelines and the IETF RFC 6125 standard for hostname verification. Additionally, developers should adopt secure coding practices that follow the OWASP Secure Coding Standards and implement proper error handling for cryptographic operations to prevent similar vulnerabilities from appearing in future versions of the application.