CVE-2014-6990 in Albasit Artes Y Danza Project
Summary
by MITRE
The Albasit artes y danza (aka com.adianteventures.adianteapps.albasit_artes_y_danza) application 1.2 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 • 09/24/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-6990 affects the Albasit artes y danza Android application version 1.2, 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 encryption is 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 using SSL/TLS, it fails to validate the server certificates against trusted certificate authorities or perform any form of certificate chain validation. This omission creates a dangerous scenario where attackers can present maliciously crafted certificates that appear legitimate to the application, effectively bypassing the security controls that should prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-295, which specifically addresses improper certificate validation in secure communications, and represents a fundamental failure in the application's cryptographic implementation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data interception, as it enables sophisticated man-in-the-middle attacks that can compromise user privacy and data integrity. Attackers can exploit this weakness to impersonate legitimate servers and establish fraudulent communication channels with users, potentially capturing sensitive information such as login credentials, personal data, or financial information. The vulnerability affects the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data transmitted through the application, as users cannot trust that their communications remain secure and private. This weakness particularly impacts mobile applications that handle sensitive user information and represents a serious breach of security best practices in mobile application development.
Organizations and developers should implement comprehensive mitigations to address this vulnerability, beginning with the immediate implementation of proper certificate validation mechanisms. The solution requires integrating robust certificate verification procedures that validate certificate chains against trusted root certificates and perform hostname validation to ensure certificates match the intended server. Security measures should include implementing certificate pinning strategies where applications maintain a whitelist of trusted certificates or public keys, preventing the acceptance of certificates from unknown or untrusted authorities. Additionally, developers should adopt secure coding practices that align with industry standards such as those outlined in the OWASP Mobile Security Project and follow the ATT&CK framework's MTT-00202, which addresses secure communication protocols in mobile environments. Regular security audits and penetration testing should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities in other applications and ensure that cryptographic implementations meet current security standards.