CVE-2014-6998 in PinkFong TV
Summary
by MITRE
The PinkFong TV (aka kr.co.smartstudy.pinkfongtv_android_googlemarket) application 4 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 • 09/25/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-6998 affects the PinkFong TV Android application version 4, representing a critical security flaw in the application's implementation of secure communication protocols. This issue resides within the application's handling of SSL/TLS certificate verification mechanisms, which are fundamental to establishing trust between mobile applications and remote servers. The vulnerability specifically targets the X.509 certificate validation process, which serves as the cornerstone of public key infrastructure and secure communications in modern mobile applications. According to CWE-295, this represents a weakness in certificate validation that directly undermines the integrity of secure network communications.
The technical flaw manifests when the application fails to properly validate X.509 certificates presented by SSL servers during the handshake process. This omission creates a dangerous scenario where the application accepts any certificate presented by a server without verifying its authenticity, trust chain, or proper signing authority. The vulnerability enables man-in-the-middle attacks where malicious actors can intercept communications between the mobile application and legitimate servers by presenting forged certificates that appear valid to the application. This flaw operates at the transport layer security level, specifically impacting the TLS/SSL implementation within the Android application framework.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and multifaceted, as it allows attackers to gain unauthorized access to sensitive user data and communications. Mobile applications that rely on secure data transmission for user authentication, personal information handling, or content delivery become vulnerable to eavesdropping and data manipulation. Attackers can exploit this weakness to intercept user credentials, personal messages, financial information, or any other sensitive data transmitted between the application and its servers. The vulnerability particularly affects applications handling user privacy data, making it a prime target for cybercriminals seeking to exploit user trust and access valuable personal information.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability must address both immediate remediation and long-term security architecture improvements. The primary solution involves implementing proper certificate pinning mechanisms that validate server certificates against known good certificates or public key fingerprints. This approach aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566 which focuses on credential access through man-in-the-middle attacks. Organizations should also implement certificate validation routines that check certificate chains, expiration dates, and proper signing authorities. Additionally, developers must ensure that security libraries and frameworks used in mobile applications properly handle certificate validation, as outlined in industry best practices for secure mobile application development. The fix requires comprehensive testing of the SSL/TLS implementation to verify that certificate verification occurs correctly and that the application properly rejects invalid certificates.