CVE-2014-7330 in Mobile
Summary
by MITRE
The XtendCU Mobile (aka com.metova.cuae.xtend) application 1.0.28 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 • 10/02/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-7330 affects the XtendCU Mobile application version 1.0.28 for Android devices, 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 can be exploited by malicious actors. The flaw directly impacts the application's ability to establish trust with remote servers, fundamentally undermining the security guarantees that SSL/TLS protocols are designed to provide.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in the application's improper handling of certificate validation mechanisms within its SSL implementation. When the XtendCU Mobile application establishes connections to remote servers, it should perform rigorous verification of the server's X.509 certificates against trusted certificate authorities to ensure the authenticity and integrity of the communication channel. However, the application fails to implement proper certificate chain validation, allowing attackers to present fraudulent certificates that appear legitimate to the application. This weakness aligns with CWE-295, which specifically addresses "Improper Certificate Validation" in security protocols, and represents a fundamental failure in the application's cryptographic implementation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability creates severe risks for users of the XtendCU Mobile application, particularly in financial and sensitive data handling contexts. Attackers can exploit this flaw through man-in-the-middle attacks to intercept and manipulate communications between the mobile application and its backend servers. The vulnerability enables adversaries to spoof legitimate servers and gain access to sensitive user information, including personal financial data, account credentials, and other confidential communications. This attack vector is particularly dangerous because it operates at the transport layer security level, making it difficult for users to detect unauthorized interception of their data. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this as a credential access technique under T1552, specifically targeting the compromise of secure communication channels to obtain sensitive information.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability must address both immediate remediation and long-term architectural improvements. The most critical immediate action involves implementing proper certificate validation within the application's SSL/TLS stack, ensuring that all X.509 certificates are verified against trusted certificate authorities and that certificate chains are properly validated. Developers should also implement certificate pinning mechanisms to prevent the acceptance of fraudulent certificates even if the certificate authority validation fails. Additionally, the application should enforce strict hostname verification to ensure that certificates are only accepted for the intended server domains. Organizations using this application should conduct thorough security assessments of their mobile environments and implement monitoring systems to detect potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of following security best practices outlined in standards such as NIST SP 800-52 for certificate management and the OWASP Mobile Security Project guidelines for secure mobile application development. Regular security updates and patch management procedures should be established to ensure that similar vulnerabilities are not introduced in future versions of the application.