CVE-2014-7336 in Taking Your Company Public
Summary
by MITRE
The Taking Your Company Public (aka biz.app4mobile.app_016e43d03ee54d1facd6c9532a00e724.app) application 1.28.44.441 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.
Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/02/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-7336 affects the Taking Your Company Public Android application version 1.28.44.441, representing a critical security flaw in the mobile application's implementation of secure communication protocols. This weakness resides in the application's failure to properly validate X.509 certificates during SSL/TLS connections, creating a significant attack vector that undermines the fundamental security guarantees of encrypted communications. The vulnerability directly impacts the application's ability to establish trust with remote servers, leaving users exposed to sophisticated man-in-the-middle attacks that can compromise sensitive data transmission between the mobile client and backend services.
The technical flaw manifests as a complete absence of certificate verification mechanisms within the application's SSL implementation. When the application attempts to establish secure connections to remote servers, it fails to perform the necessary cryptographic validation steps that would normally confirm the authenticity of server certificates. This includes checking certificate signatures, verifying certificate authorities, validating certificate expiration dates, and ensuring proper domain name matching. The absence of these verification steps means that any malicious actor capable of intercepting network traffic can present a fraudulent certificate that the application will accept without question. This behavior fundamentally violates the principles of secure communication and creates an environment where attackers can transparently intercept, modify, or redirect sensitive information transmitted through the application.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data interception to encompass comprehensive system compromise and user data exposure. Attackers can exploit this weakness to perform man-in-the-middle attacks that allow them to eavesdrop on all communications between the mobile application and its backend servers. This includes but is not limited to user credentials, personal information, financial data, and business-sensitive communications that the application may handle. The vulnerability is particularly concerning given that the application appears to be related to business and corporate functions, suggesting that it may handle confidential business data, employee information, or financial transactions. The attack surface is further expanded by the fact that this vulnerability affects a mobile application that users may access from various network environments including public Wi-Fi networks, increasing the likelihood of successful exploitation.
From a cybersecurity framework perspective, this vulnerability maps directly to CWE-295, which specifically addresses "Improper Certificate Validation," and represents a failure to implement proper SSL/TLS security controls. The vulnerability also aligns with several ATT&CK techniques including T1046 for network service scanning, T1566 for spearphishing with social engineering, and T1557 for dynamic resolution. Organizations should immediately implement mitigations including mandatory certificate pinning, enforcement of proper certificate validation, and deployment of network monitoring tools to detect anomalous traffic patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The application developers must urgently address this issue by implementing robust certificate validation mechanisms, including proper certificate chain validation, revocation checking, and implementation of secure key management practices. Additionally, users should be advised to avoid using the application until the vulnerability is patched, particularly when handling sensitive information, and network administrators should monitor for potential exploitation attempts through network traffic analysis and intrusion detection systems.