CVE-2014-7044 in Street Walker
Summary
by MITRE
The Street Walker (aka kt.road.StreetWalker) application 0.0.1 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 • 09/27/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-7044 affects the Street Walker Android application version 0.0.1, representing a critical security flaw in the application's implementation of secure communication protocols. This issue falls under the category of improper certificate verification within SSL/TLS implementations, creating a significant attack surface that adversaries can exploit to compromise user data integrity and confidentiality. The application's failure to properly validate X.509 certificates from SSL servers constitutes a fundamental breakdown in the cryptographic security framework that should protect users from malicious interference during network communications.
The technical flaw manifests in the application's complete absence of certificate validation mechanisms, allowing attackers to perform man-in-the-middle attacks by presenting forged SSL certificates to unsuspecting users. This vulnerability directly violates established security practices for mobile application development and network communication security. The application's trust model is fundamentally compromised, as it accepts any certificate presented by a server without performing the necessary verification steps including certificate chain validation, hostname matching, and trust anchor verification. This weakness enables attackers to establish fraudulent connections that appear legitimate to users while secretly intercepting or modifying transmitted data.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data interception to encompass complete compromise of user privacy and potential financial loss. Attackers can exploit this weakness to access sensitive user information, including personal data, login credentials, and any other information transmitted through the application's network connections. The vulnerability affects all users of the application who establish connections to servers using SSL/TLS protocols, making it particularly dangerous given the widespread use of mobile applications for accessing sensitive services. The attack vector is particularly insidious because it operates transparently to users who may not realize their communications are being intercepted or manipulated.
From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-295 which specifically addresses improper certificate validation and represents a classic example of insufficient certificate trust verification. The attack pattern corresponds to techniques described in the ATT&CK framework under T1041 for Exfiltration Over C2 Channel and T1566 for Phishing, as the vulnerability enables attackers to establish malicious communication channels that can be used for data exfiltration and user deception. Mitigation strategies should include implementing proper certificate pinning mechanisms, ensuring robust certificate validation routines, and incorporating established security libraries that handle SSL/TLS certificate verification according to industry standards. The application should also implement certificate transparency checks and maintain updated trust stores to prevent exploitation of known vulnerable certificate authorities. Organizations should consider implementing network monitoring solutions to detect potential man-in-the-middle attacks and establish incident response procedures to address certificate-related security incidents promptly.