CVE-2014-6804 in Deschutes Public MobileLibrary
Summary
by MITRE
The Deschutes Public MobileLibrary (aka com.bredir.boopsie.deschutes) application 4.5.110 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 • 09/17/2024
The vulnerability described in CVE-2014-6804 affects the Deschutes Public MobileLibrary Android application version 4.5.110 which fails to properly validate X.509 certificates during SSL/TLS communications. This critical security flaw represents a failure in the application's certificate verification mechanism, creating a significant attack surface that enables malicious actors to perform man-in-the-middle attacks against unsuspecting users. The application's inability to validate server certificates means it accepts any certificate presented by an attacker, effectively undermining the entire SSL/TLS security framework that is designed to establish trust between client and server.
This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-295 which defines "Improper Certificate Validation" as a weakness where the software does not properly validate X.509 certificates during SSL/TLS connections. The flaw allows attackers to establish fraudulent SSL connections by presenting a crafted certificate that appears legitimate to the vulnerable application. The attack vector operates through the manipulation of the SSL handshake process where the application accepts any certificate without proper validation of the certificate chain, issuer, or trust anchors. This represents a fundamental breakdown in the application's security architecture and violates standard security practices for mobile application development.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe as it enables attackers to intercept, modify, or steal sensitive information transmitted between the mobile application and its backend services. Users of the Deschutes Public MobileLibrary application become vulnerable to data breaches, session hijacking, and credential theft when communicating with servers that the application connects to. The vulnerability affects all data exchanges including user authentication credentials, personal information, library records, and potentially financial transactions if the application handles such data. Attackers can exploit this weakness to gain unauthorized access to user accounts, manipulate library services, or redirect users to malicious websites while maintaining the appearance of legitimate service communication.
From a threat modeling perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1041 which describes "Exfiltration Over C2 Channel" and T1566 which covers "Phishing for Information" as attackers can leverage the compromised communication channel to exfiltrate sensitive data. The mitigation strategy involves implementing proper certificate pinning mechanisms, ensuring that the application validates certificate chains against trusted Certificate Authorities, and implementing certificate revocation checking. Security measures should include configuring the application to verify certificate signatures, validate certificate expiration dates, and establish trust against known root certificates. Additionally, developers should implement certificate pinning to prevent the application from accepting any certificate, even from trusted CAs, unless it matches specific expected certificate fingerprints. The application should also be updated to use secure SSL/TLS protocols and cipher suites while implementing proper error handling for certificate validation failures to prevent the application from proceeding with unverified connections.