CVE-2014-7035 in Harmonizers Planet
Summary
by MITRE
The Harmonizers Planet (aka uk.co.pixelkicks.fifthharmony) application 2.3.4 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 • 09/26/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-7035 affects the Harmonizers Planet Android application version 2.3.4, representing a critical security flaw in the application's implementation of secure communication protocols. This issue manifests as a 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 application's insecure handling of certificate verification directly violates fundamental principles of secure network communication and represents a severe deviation from established security best practices.
The technical flaw resides in the application's inability to perform proper certificate chain validation and trust verification when establishing secure connections to remote servers. This vulnerability specifically impacts the SSL/TLS handshake process where the application should validate certificate authenticity through trusted certificate authorities but instead accepts any certificate presented by a server. The flaw enables attackers to perform man-in-the-middle attacks by presenting fraudulent certificates that appear legitimate to the vulnerable application, allowing them to intercept, modify, or steal sensitive data transmitted between users and servers. This weakness falls under CWE-295 which specifically addresses improper certificate validation and certificate trust verification failures in security protocols.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data interception to encompass complete compromise of user privacy and application security. Attackers can exploit this flaw to access personal information, login credentials, financial data, and other sensitive user content that the application transmits over network connections. The vulnerability affects all users of the specific application version and creates persistent security risks for any data exchanged through the compromised communication channels. This represents a significant threat to user trust and application integrity, potentially leading to identity theft, financial fraud, and unauthorized access to user accounts. The vulnerability also enables attackers to manipulate application behavior by redirecting traffic to malicious servers while maintaining the appearance of legitimate communication.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2014-7035 require immediate implementation of proper certificate validation mechanisms within the application's network communication stack. Developers should implement strict certificate chain validation procedures that verify certificate signatures against trusted root authorities and ensure certificate expiration dates are properly checked. The application must enforce certificate pinning where possible, implementing certificate or public key pinning to prevent acceptance of fraudulent certificates even if they appear valid. Security patches should include comprehensive SSL/TLS configuration updates that disable insecure protocol versions and cipher suites while enforcing strong cryptographic standards. Organizations should also consider implementing network monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts and establish proper incident response procedures for security breaches. This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of following security frameworks such as those recommended by the OWASP Mobile Security Project and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1041 which covers data compression and encryption for data exfiltration. The remediation process must include thorough code review of all network communication components and implementation of automated security testing to prevent similar vulnerabilities in future releases.