CVE-2014-7570 in Fire Equipments Screen lock
Summary
by MITRE
The Fire Equipments Screen lock (aka com.locktheworld.screen.lock.theme.FireEquipments) application 1.1 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 • 10/11/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-7570 affects the Fire Equipments Screen lock application version 1.1 for Android devices, representing a critical security flaw in the application's implementation of secure communications. This issue resides within the application's network security configuration where it fails to properly validate X.509 certificates from SSL servers during secure connections. The absence of certificate verification creates a significant attack surface that exposes users to sophisticated man-in-the-middle attacks. The vulnerability specifically impacts the application's ability to establish trust with legitimate servers, as it accepts any certificate presented without proper validation of the certificate authority or cryptographic integrity.
From a technical perspective, this flaw represents a failure in the application's SSL/TLS implementation that directly violates fundamental security principles of secure communication. The application's inability to verify certificate chains means that attackers can generate and present fraudulent certificates that appear legitimate to the application. This weakness allows malicious actors to intercept and manipulate communications between the Android device and remote servers, potentially capturing sensitive user data, credentials, or other confidential information transmitted through the vulnerable application. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-295, which specifically addresses improper certificate validation in security protocols, and demonstrates a clear deviation from established security best practices.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data interception, as it fundamentally undermines the security model of the Android application ecosystem. Attackers can exploit this weakness to create convincing fake server environments that the application accepts without question, enabling them to perform various malicious activities including credential theft, data exfiltration, and session hijacking. The implications are particularly severe given that this affects a screen lock application, which typically operates with elevated privileges and may have access to sensitive user information. This vulnerability creates a persistent threat vector that remains active as long as the vulnerable application is installed on the device, making it a long-term security risk for affected users.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability must address both immediate remediation and long-term security improvements. The most effective approach involves implementing proper certificate validation mechanisms that verify certificate chains against trusted certificate authorities, ensuring that the application only accepts certificates from legitimate sources. Security professionals should recommend that users immediately uninstall the vulnerable application until a patched version is available, as this represents a critical security risk that cannot be effectively mitigated through configuration changes alone. Organizations should also implement network monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts and consider deploying additional security controls such as certificate pinning to prevent the acceptance of unauthorized certificates. This vulnerability highlights the importance of adhering to security standards such as those outlined in the OWASP Mobile Security Project and demonstrates the necessity of proper cryptographic implementation in mobile applications to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks. The issue also relates to ATT&CK technique T1041, which covers data compression and encryption, as the vulnerability enables attackers to bypass normal encryption protections through certificate manipulation.