CVE-2014-7352 in India's Anthem
Summary
by MITRE
The India s Anthem (aka appinventor.ai_opalfoxy83.India_Anthem) application 1.0 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 • 10/03/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-7352 affects the India s Anthem Android application version 1.0, 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 malicious actors can exploit to compromise user data and system integrity. The vulnerability specifically impacts the application's ability to establish trust with remote servers, fundamentally undermining the security model designed to protect sensitive information transmitted over network connections.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in the application's improper handling of SSL/TLS certificate verification processes, which falls under the CWE-295 weakness category related to improper certificate validation. When an Android application establishes secure connections to remote servers, it should validate the server's X.509 certificate against trusted certificate authorities to ensure the authenticity of the connection. However, this application fails to perform these critical validation steps, allowing attackers to present forged certificates that appear legitimate to the application. This flaw enables man-in-the-middle attacks where adversaries can intercept, modify, or steal data transmitted between the application and its intended servers, as the application accepts any certificate without proper verification mechanisms.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data interception, as it creates opportunities for sophisticated attack vectors that can compromise user privacy and system security. Attackers can exploit this weakness to perform session hijacking, inject malicious content into communications, or redirect users to fraudulent servers that appear legitimate. The vulnerability is particularly concerning for applications that handle sensitive user information, authentication credentials, or financial data, as the lack of certificate validation essentially removes the cryptographic protection that SSL/TLS is designed to provide. This weakness directly aligns with ATT&CK technique T1046 which involves network service scanning and exploitation of insecure communication channels.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate implementation of proper SSL/TLS certificate validation mechanisms within the application. Developers should implement certificate pinning to ensure that the application only accepts specific certificates or certificate authorities, rather than trusting the entire certificate chain. The application must validate certificate expiration dates, verify certificate signatures against trusted authorities, and implement proper certificate chain validation procedures. Additionally, security patches should be deployed to enforce certificate verification at all network communication points, and developers should consider implementing certificate transparency checks to detect improperly issued certificates. Organizations should also conduct comprehensive security assessments to identify other applications that may be vulnerable to similar certificate validation flaws, as this represents a common weakness in mobile application security implementations that requires systematic remediation across the entire software development lifecycle.