CVE-2014-7118 in Item Hunt
Summary
by MITRE
The Itography Item Hunt (aka com.itography.application) application 3.0.3 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 • 09/30/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-7118 affects the Itography Item Hunt Android application version 3.0.3, representing a critical security flaw in the application's secure communication implementation. 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 specifically targets the certificate verification process, which is fundamental to establishing trust in secure communications between mobile applications and remote servers.
The technical flaw manifests as a missing certificate validation mechanism within the application's SSL implementation, allowing attackers to perform man-in-the-middle attacks by presenting fraudulent certificates. This weakness directly violates established security protocols and standards, as the application fails to perform essential certificate chain validation, hostname verification, and trust anchor checking. According to CWE classification, this represents a variant of CWE-295 - Improper Certificate Validation, which encompasses failures in certificate verification processes that enable attackers to establish fraudulent secure connections. The vulnerability essentially disables the cryptographic security measures that should protect against unauthorized interception and modification of network traffic.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is substantial, as it enables attackers to intercept and manipulate sensitive information transmitted between the mobile application and backend servers. Users may unknowingly transmit personal data, authentication credentials, or other confidential information to compromised servers that appear legitimate due to the forged certificates. This vulnerability particularly affects applications handling user authentication, personal information, financial data, or any sensitive communications where SSL/TLS security is expected to provide protection. The attack vector requires minimal sophistication, making it accessible to threat actors with basic network interception capabilities, and the consequences can include identity theft, data breaches, and unauthorized access to user accounts.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability must address both immediate remediation and long-term security improvements. The primary solution involves implementing proper certificate validation mechanisms that verify certificate chains against trusted Certificate Authorities, perform hostname verification, and validate certificate expiration dates. Security professionals should ensure the application employs standard SSL/TLS libraries with proper certificate validation enabled, avoiding custom implementations that may introduce additional vulnerabilities. Organizations should also consider implementing certificate pinning strategies to further strengthen trust validation, though this approach requires careful implementation to avoid service disruption. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability aligns with techniques involving credential access through network sniffing and man-in-the-middle attacks, making it critical for defensive measures to include network monitoring and anomaly detection to identify potential exploitation attempts. The fix requires comprehensive testing of SSL/TLS implementations and regular security audits to ensure proper certificate handling practices are maintained throughout the application lifecycle.