CVE-2014-7592 in FOL
Summary
by MITRE
The FOL (aka com.desire2learn.fol.mobile.app.campuslife.directory) application 3.0.729.1459 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 described in CVE-2014-7592 represents a critical security flaw in the Desire2Learn FOL mobile application version 3.0.729.1459 for Android platforms. This application, designed for campus life directory services, fails to properly validate SSL/TLS certificates during secure communications with backend servers. The absence of certificate verification creates a significant attack surface that enables malicious actors to perform man-in-the-middle attacks without detection. This weakness directly violates fundamental security principles for secure communications and represents a failure in the application's cryptographic implementation.
The technical flaw stems from the application's improper handling of X.509 certificate validation processes within its SSL/TLS implementation. When establishing secure connections to remote servers, the application accepts any certificate presented without performing the necessary verification steps such as checking certificate authorities, validating certificate chains, or ensuring proper domain name matching. This vulnerability falls under CWE-295, which specifically addresses "Improper Certificate Validation," and represents a classic case of insufficient cryptographic validation. The application essentially trusts any certificate that the attacker can generate or intercept, making it trivial for adversaries to impersonate legitimate servers.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and multifaceted. Attackers can exploit this weakness to intercept, modify, or steal sensitive information transmitted between the mobile application and backend servers. This includes user credentials, personal information, academic records, and other confidential data that users expect to be protected through secure communications. The vulnerability affects the confidentiality and integrity of all data transmitted through the application, potentially leading to identity theft, unauthorized access to academic systems, and compromise of institutional data. From an ATT&CK perspective, this vulnerability maps to T1041, where adversaries use man-in-the-middle techniques to intercept communications, and T1566, which involves social engineering through credential harvesting.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate attention and multiple layers of security controls. The primary fix involves implementing proper certificate pinning mechanisms within the application, ensuring that only pre-approved certificates or certificate authorities are accepted. Organizations should also implement certificate transparency checks and validate certificate chains against trusted root authorities. Network-level protections such as deep packet inspection and SSL/TLS monitoring can help detect potential exploitation attempts. Additionally, regular security audits and code reviews should be conducted to identify similar certificate validation weaknesses in other applications. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of cryptographic best practices and serves as a reminder of the necessity for robust certificate validation in mobile applications handling sensitive data.