CVE-2014-6956 in Hydrogen Water
Summary
by MITRE
The Hydrogen Water (aka com.appzone628) application 1.0 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-2014-6956 affects the Hydrogen Water Android application version 1.0, representing a critical security flaw in the application's implementation of secure communication protocols. This issue resides in the application's failure to properly validate X.509 certificates during SSL/TLS connections, creating a significant attack surface that compromises the integrity of data transmission between the mobile client and remote servers. The absence of certificate verification mechanisms fundamentally undermines the cryptographic security assurances that SSL/TLS protocols are designed to provide.
This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-295, which specifically addresses "Improper Certificate Validation," and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1041 where adversaries exploit weak certificate validation to conduct man-in-the-middle attacks. The flaw allows malicious actors positioned between the application and legitimate servers to intercept and manipulate communications without detection. Attackers can present forged certificates that appear legitimate to the vulnerable application, enabling them to decrypt and modify sensitive data being transmitted. This includes user credentials, personal information, financial data, and other confidential payloads that the application handles during normal operation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data interception, as it fundamentally compromises the trust model that mobile applications rely upon for secure communication. When an application fails to verify server certificates, it creates an environment where attackers can establish fake server endpoints that appear authentic to the client application. This allows for comprehensive surveillance of all network traffic, potential data exfiltration, and the ability to inject malicious content into the application's communication streams. The vulnerability affects any sensitive information processed by the application, including but not limited to user authentication tokens, personal identification data, and potentially financial transaction details.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate implementation of proper certificate validation mechanisms within the application's network communication stack. The recommended approach involves implementing certificate pinning, where the application explicitly trusts specific certificate authorities or public keys rather than relying on the default trust store. Additionally, developers should implement certificate validation checks that verify certificate signatures, expiration dates, and issuer information against established trust anchors. The application should also implement proper error handling for certificate validation failures, ensuring that any certificate verification issues result in immediate connection termination rather than proceeding with potentially compromised communications. Organizations should also consider implementing network monitoring solutions to detect unusual traffic patterns that might indicate active exploitation attempts.