CVE-2014-7760 in Health assistance service
Summary
by MITRE
The Health assistance service (aka net.nttcloud.ft.karada) application 2.4.1 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 vulnerability identified as CVE-2014-7760 affects the Health assistance service application version 2.4.1 for Android devices, representing a critical security flaw in the application's cryptographic implementation. This issue resides within the application's secure communication protocols and specifically targets the certificate verification mechanism that should validate the authenticity of SSL servers. The vulnerability enables malicious actors to perform man-in-the-middle attacks by presenting crafted certificates that appear legitimate to the application, thereby undermining the fundamental security guarantees that SSL/TLS protocols are designed to provide.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from the application's failure to properly validate X.509 certificates during SSL/TLS handshakes. This flaw aligns with CWE-295, which categorizes improper certificate validation as a significant weakness in authentication mechanisms. The application essentially accepts any certificate presented by a server without performing the necessary checks against trusted certificate authorities or validating certificate chains. This allows attackers to generate or obtain certificates that can masquerade as legitimate servers, particularly when the application relies on default or insecure trust store configurations that do not properly enforce certificate validation policies.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and multifaceted, particularly for healthcare applications that handle sensitive patient data. Attackers can exploit this weakness to intercept and modify communications between the Android application and backend servers, potentially gaining access to confidential medical information, personal health records, or authentication credentials. The vulnerability directly maps to ATT&CK technique T1566, which involves phishing and credential theft through network interception. In healthcare environments, this could lead to data breaches affecting patient privacy, compliance violations under HIPAA regulations, and potential harm to patient care if medical data is altered during transmission.
The implications extend beyond simple data interception, as this vulnerability could enable attackers to perform session hijacking, inject malicious content into medical applications, or manipulate treatment recommendations. The attack vector is particularly concerning given that healthcare applications often process highly sensitive information that requires strong security guarantees. The vulnerability also demonstrates a failure in the application's security architecture that could affect other security controls, potentially allowing attackers to escalate privileges or move laterally within healthcare networks. Organizations should consider implementing network-level protections such as certificate pinning to mitigate the risk of exploitation, while developers must ensure proper certificate validation mechanisms are implemented in all applications handling sensitive data. The vulnerability highlights the critical importance of robust certificate validation in mobile health applications and underscores the need for comprehensive security testing during the development lifecycle.