CVE-2014-6783 in Campus Link - Campus TV HKUSU
Summary
by MITRE
The Campus Link - Campus TV HKUSU (aka com.campus.tv.hkusu) application 2.2 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 • 09/16/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-6783 resides within the Campus Link - Campus TV HKUSU Android application version 2.2, representing a critical security flaw in the application's SSL certificate verification mechanism. 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 malicious actors can exploit to compromise user data and system integrity. The vulnerability directly impacts the application's ability to establish trust with legitimate servers, fundamentally undermining the security assurances that SSL/TLS protocols are designed to provide.
The technical flaw manifests as a complete absence of certificate pinning or validation procedures within the application's network security implementation. When the application establishes SSL connections to remote servers, it fails to perform the necessary cryptographic verification steps that would normally confirm the authenticity and integrity of the server's certificate. This omission allows attackers to intercept communications through man-in-the-middle attacks by presenting forged certificates that appear legitimate to the vulnerable application. The vulnerability specifically affects the SSL/TLS handshake process where certificate validation should occur, but instead accepts any certificate without proper cryptographic verification.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data interception to encompass potential complete system compromise and unauthorized access to sensitive user information. Attackers can exploit this weakness to eavesdrop on communications, modify data in transit, or redirect users to malicious servers while maintaining the appearance of legitimate service. This vulnerability particularly affects users of the HKUSU campus television application who may be transmitting personal information, login credentials, or other sensitive data through the application's network connections. The attack vector is particularly dangerous because it requires no special privileges or advanced technical skills to exploit, making it accessible to a wide range of threat actors.
Security professionals should recognize this vulnerability as a classic example of improper certificate validation, which aligns with CWE-295 - Improper Certificate Validation and potentially relates to CWE-310 - Cryptographic Issues. The vulnerability also maps to ATT&CK technique T1041 - Exfiltration Over C2 Channel, as attackers can leverage this weakness to establish covert communication channels for data theft. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including certificate pinning, proper SSL validation, and network monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts. The application developers must address this by implementing robust certificate validation mechanisms, ensuring that all SSL connections verify certificate chains against trusted Certificate Authorities, and potentially implementing certificate pinning for critical communications to prevent such vulnerabilities from occurring in future versions of the application.