CVE-2014-7753 in News
Summary
by MITRE
The Circa News (aka cir.ca) application 2.1.3 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 • 10/17/2024
The Circa News Android application version 2.1.3 contains a critical security flaw that undermines the integrity of its secure communications infrastructure. This vulnerability stems from the application's failure to properly validate X.509 certificates during SSL/TLS handshakes, creating a significant attack surface that malicious actors can exploit to compromise user data. The flaw represents a fundamental breakdown in the application's cryptographic security implementation, effectively disabling the certificate verification mechanism that is essential for establishing trust between the client and remote servers.
This vulnerability falls under the category of certificate verification bypass, which is classified as CWE-295 in the Common Weakness Enumeration framework. The specific technical implementation flaw involves the application's inability to perform proper certificate chain validation and hostname verification during the SSL/TLS connection establishment process. When the application accepts connections without verifying the server's certificate against trusted certificate authorities, it creates an environment where attackers can present fraudulent certificates and establish secure-looking connections that appear legitimate to the user. This weakness directly enables man-in-the-middle attacks where adversaries can intercept, modify, or steal sensitive information transmitted between the application and its servers.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data interception to encompass complete session hijacking capabilities and credential theft. Attackers exploiting this flaw can create convincing fake servers that appear legitimate to the application, allowing them to capture login credentials, personal information, financial data, and other sensitive user content. The vulnerability affects all users of the specific application version and poses a significant risk to privacy and data integrity, particularly when the application handles sensitive user information or transactions. This weakness is particularly dangerous in mobile environments where users may connect to untrusted networks, increasing the attack surface for such man-in-the-middle scenarios.
From a threat modeling perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1573.002 for "Encrypted Channel: Asymmetric Cryptography" and represents a failure in the application's security controls that would be detected by standard security assessments. The recommended mitigations include implementing proper certificate pinning mechanisms, enforcing strict certificate validation procedures, and updating the application to include comprehensive X.509 certificate verification. Organizations should also consider implementing network-level protections such as SSL/TLS inspection and monitoring for suspicious certificate patterns. The fix requires developers to ensure that certificate validation is performed against trusted certificate authorities, that hostname matching is properly implemented, and that the application fails securely when certificate validation fails. This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper cryptographic implementation in mobile applications and serves as a reminder that even seemingly simple security features can have catastrophic consequences when improperly implemented.