CVE-2016-1184 in Bank App
Summary
by MITRE
Tokyo Star bank App for Android before 1.4 and Tokyo Star bank App for iOS before 1.4 do not validate SSL certificates.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/19/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-1184 affects mobile banking applications developed by Tokyo Star Bank for both android and ios platforms. This issue exists in versions prior to 1.4 and represents a critical security flaw in the application's network communication security mechanisms. The vulnerability specifically targets the SSL certificate validation process, which is fundamental to establishing secure communications between mobile banking clients and backend servers. When SSL certificates are not properly validated, the application becomes susceptible to man-in-the-middle attacks that can compromise sensitive financial data transmitted between users and the bank's servers.
The technical flaw stems from improper implementation of SSL/TLS certificate validation within the mobile banking applications. This vulnerability falls under the broader category of weak cryptographic practices and inadequate transport layer security. According to CWE classification, this represents a weakness in cryptographic implementation where the application fails to properly verify the authenticity of SSL certificates during the connection establishment process. The absence of certificate pinning and proper certificate validation routines allows attackers to perform SSL stripping attacks or present fraudulent certificates that the application will accept without proper verification. This weakness directly violates industry standards such as those outlined in the OWASP Mobile Top 10 and NIST SP 800-52 guidelines for secure mobile application development.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and multifaceted for both users and the financial institution. Mobile banking users face significant risks including unauthorized access to their financial accounts, transaction manipulation, and theft of sensitive personal and financial information. Attackers can intercept and modify banking transactions in real-time, potentially redirecting funds to malicious accounts or viewing confidential account details. The financial institution suffers from potential regulatory violations under financial services regulations such as those imposed by the financial services authority and PCI DSS requirements for secure handling of cardholder data. Additionally, the institution faces reputational damage, potential legal liability, and financial losses from fraudulent transactions that may occur as a result of this vulnerability.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability must address both immediate remediation and long-term security improvements. The primary fix involves implementing proper SSL certificate validation mechanisms that verify certificate chains against trusted Certificate Authorities and implement certificate pinning where appropriate. Security patches should be deployed immediately to all affected versions of the mobile applications, with users required to update to the latest secure versions. Organizations should also implement network monitoring to detect potential attacks targeting this vulnerability and establish incident response procedures for handling security breaches. The remediation process should include comprehensive code review and security testing of all network communication components, following secure coding practices such as those recommended in the OWASP Secure Coding Practices and NIST guidelines for secure software development lifecycle implementation.