CVE-2014-7571 in Grey's Anatomy Fan
Summary
by MITRE
The Grey s Anatomy Fan (aka nl.jborsje.android.tvfan.greysanatomy) application 3.7.2 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-2014-7571 affects the Grey's Anatomy Fan Android application version 3.7.2, 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 adversaries can exploit to compromise user data integrity and confidentiality. The flaw manifests when the application establishes secure connections to remote servers, particularly in scenarios where sensitive information is transmitted or received through network communications.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in the application's improper handling of SSL certificate validation mechanisms, which directly maps to CWE-295 - Improper Certificate Validation. The application fails to implement proper certificate chain validation, hostname verification, or trust store validation that would normally occur during secure socket layer negotiations. This omission allows attackers to present fraudulent certificates that appear legitimate to the application, enabling them to establish secure-looking connections while actually communicating with malicious intermediaries. The vulnerability specifically impacts the application's ability to verify the authenticity and integrity of SSL certificates, effectively undermining the entire purpose of transport layer security.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates severe implications for user security and privacy, as it enables man-in-the-middle attacks that can intercept, modify, or steal sensitive user information. Attackers can exploit this weakness to impersonate legitimate servers and gain access to user credentials, personal data, or other confidential information transmitted through the application's network communications. The impact extends beyond simple data theft to include potential account takeover scenarios, session hijacking, and the ability to inject malicious content into the application's communications. This vulnerability particularly affects users who rely on the application for accessing sensitive content or performing authenticated actions within the application's ecosystem.
The security implications of this vulnerability align with ATT&CK technique T1041 - Exfiltration Over C2 Channel, where attackers can leverage the compromised communication channel to exfiltrate data. Additionally, the flaw enables techniques such as T1566 - Phishing with Spoofed Digital Certificates, where adversaries can create convincing fake certificates to deceive users and applications. Organizations and users should implement immediate mitigations including updating to patched versions of the application, implementing network monitoring to detect suspicious certificate behavior, and considering network-level protections such as certificate pinning or proxy-based inspection. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper certificate validation in mobile applications and underscores the necessity of adhering to security best practices in SSL/TLS implementation, as outlined in industry standards such as NIST SP 800-52 for certificate management and validation requirements.