CVE-2014-6954 in Deer Hunting Calls + Guide
Summary
by MITRE
The Deer Hunting Calls + Guide (aka com.anawaz.deerhuntingcalls.free) application 4.0.1 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.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/23/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-6954 affects the Deer Hunting Calls + Guide Android application version 4.0.1, 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 directly 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 in the application's certificate validation process where it fails to perform proper certificate chain verification and trust validation. This weakness allows attackers to present fraudulent certificates that appear legitimate to the application, enabling them to intercept and manipulate communications between the mobile device and remote servers. The vulnerability specifically affects the application's secure socket layer implementation, where certificate verification is bypassed entirely, creating a man-in-the-middle attack vector that can be exploited without requiring advanced technical skills or significant computational resources. According to CWE-295, this represents a failure to validate certificates, which is a well-documented weakness in cryptographic implementations that directly violates industry security standards.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data interception, as it can enable comprehensive surveillance and data exfiltration capabilities for threat actors. Attackers can exploit this weakness to gain access to user credentials, personal information, and potentially sensitive hunting data that users might store or transmit through the application. The vulnerability affects all users of the specific application version, creating a widespread risk across the user base, and the attack can be executed remotely without requiring physical access to the device or elevated privileges. This weakness particularly impacts mobile applications that handle user data, as the attack can be performed over public networks where users are most vulnerable to such interception attacks.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate implementation of proper certificate validation mechanisms within the application. Developers should implement certificate pinning to ensure that only specific trusted certificates are accepted, and establish proper certificate chain validation that verifies certificate authorities and expiration dates. The application should be updated to include robust SSL/TLS certificate verification that aligns with industry best practices and security frameworks such as those recommended by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Additionally, security patches should be deployed immediately to address the vulnerability, and users should be advised to update to the latest application version that includes proper certificate validation mechanisms. The remediation approach should incorporate defensive measures against certificate-based attacks and align with ATT&CK framework techniques related to credential access and defense evasion to prevent similar vulnerabilities from reoccurring in future implementations.