CVE-2014-7582 in Water Lateral Sizer
Summary
by MITRE
The Water Lateral Sizer (aka com.wWaterLateralSizer) application 1.2 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 • 10/12/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-7582 resides within the Water Lateral Sizer Android application version 1.2, specifically addressing a critical flaw in the application's secure communication protocols. This issue represents a fundamental failure in the application's implementation of SSL/TLS certificate validation mechanisms, creating a significant security risk for users who rely on the app for sensitive data transmission. The application's failure to properly validate X.509 certificates from SSL servers constitutes a severe deviation from established security practices and exposes users to potential data interception and manipulation.
The technical flaw manifests as the absence of proper certificate verification during SSL handshakes, allowing attackers to perform man-in-the-middle attacks by presenting fraudulent certificates. This vulnerability directly violates the principles of secure communication as outlined in industry standards such as CWE-295, which specifically addresses improper certificate validation in secure communications. The application's lack of certificate pinning or proper trust chain validation means that any certificate presented by a malicious server can be accepted without scrutiny, regardless of its authenticity or trustworthiness.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates substantial risk for users of the Water Lateral Sizer application, particularly when the app handles sensitive information such as personal data, financial details, or confidential communications. Attackers can exploit this weakness to intercept and modify data transmitted between the application and its servers, potentially gaining access to user credentials, personal information, or proprietary data. The attack vector is particularly dangerous because it operates silently in the background without alerting users to the compromise, making it difficult to detect and mitigate. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1041, which describes data compression and encryption techniques used to evade detection while exfiltrating information.
The impact of this vulnerability extends beyond individual user privacy concerns to potentially compromise enterprise security if the application is used in business environments. Organizations relying on the app for critical operations may experience data breaches, regulatory compliance violations, and reputational damage. The vulnerability represents a clear failure in the application's security architecture and demonstrates the importance of proper certificate validation as a fundamental security control. Organizations should consider implementing certificate pinning mechanisms, proper trust store management, and regular security audits to prevent similar vulnerabilities from occurring in their applications. The remediation requires developers to implement proper SSL certificate validation procedures, including chain of trust verification, certificate expiration checks, and hostname validation to ensure that only legitimate certificates are accepted during secure communications.