CVE-2014-7603 in Gravey Design
Summary
by MITRE
The Gravey Design (aka com.dreamstep.wGraveyDesign) application 0.58.13357.54919 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-2014-7603 affects the Gravey Design Android application version 0.58.13357.54919, presenting a critical security flaw in the application's handling of secure communications. This issue falls under the category of inadequate certificate validation, where the application fails to properly verify X.509 certificates presented by SSL servers during network communications. The absence of proper certificate verification creates a significant attack vector that enables malicious actors to perform man-in-the-middle attacks against users of the application.
The technical flaw stems from the application's failure to implement proper certificate chain validation and trust verification mechanisms. When the Android application establishes SSL connections to remote servers, it should validate the server's certificate against trusted certificate authorities and ensure the certificate's validity period, subject name, and other cryptographic parameters meet security requirements. However, the vulnerable implementation accepts any certificate presented by the server without proper verification, effectively disabling the security benefits of SSL/TLS encryption. This weakness directly violates the principles of secure communication protocols and represents a fundamental failure in the application's security architecture.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe as it allows attackers to establish fraudulent SSL connections with the application, potentially intercepting or modifying sensitive data transmitted between the user's device and backend servers. Attackers can create malicious certificates that appear legitimate to the vulnerable application, enabling them to capture login credentials, personal information, financial data, or other sensitive communications. This vulnerability specifically aligns with CWE-295, which addresses improper certificate validation, and represents a critical failure in the application's network security controls. The threat landscape for such vulnerabilities is particularly concerning as they provide attackers with persistent access to user data and can facilitate further attacks within compromised networks.
Organizations and developers should implement comprehensive mitigations including proper certificate validation, certificate pinning, and regular security audits of mobile applications. The solution requires implementing robust SSL certificate validation mechanisms that verify certificate chains against trusted CAs, check certificate expiration dates, and validate certificate subject names. Additionally, implementing certificate pinning techniques can provide additional protection by ensuring the application only accepts specific certificates or certificate authorities. This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of following secure coding practices and adhering to security standards such as those outlined in the OWASP Mobile Security Project, which emphasizes the need for proper cryptographic implementation in mobile applications. The remediation process should involve thorough code review, implementation of proper SSL/TLS validation libraries, and comprehensive testing of secure communication channels to ensure that all network interactions maintain the integrity and confidentiality of user data.