CVE-2014-5742

Vulnerability

The Eversnap Private Photo Album application (com.weddingsnap.android) version 1.0.23 for Android does not properly verify X.509 certificates presented by SSL/TLS servers. This flaw means the app accepts any certificate, including those from untrusted or malicious sources, without validating the chain of trust against a trusted root certificate authority [1]. The vulnerability exists in the HTTPS connection handling code, and no special configuration is required to trigger it—the app simply fails to perform certificate validation on every SSL connection.

Exploitation

An attacker with network access (e.g., on the same Wi-Fi network as the victim) can perform a man-in-the-middle (MITM) attack by presenting a crafted certificate to the app. The attacker does not need prior authentication or user interaction beyond the victim using the app normally. By intercepting the SSL handshake and providing a self-signed or otherwise invalid certificate, the attacker can decrypt and read or modify the encrypted traffic between the app and its servers [1].

Impact

Successful exploitation allows the attacker to spoof the legitimate server and obtain any sensitive information transmitted by the app, such as private photo album contents, user credentials, or session tokens. The impact is a complete loss of confidentiality and integrity for data exchanged over HTTPS. Depending on the app's functionality, the attacker may also be able to inject malicious data or perform actions on behalf of the user [1].

Mitigation

As of the publication date (2014-09-09), no official patch or updated version addressing this vulnerability has been identified. The CERT/CC recommends users avoid using the affected application altogether, especially for transmitting sensitive information [1]. Users should consider uninstalling the app and accessing any related services through a web browser, which typically implements proper SSL validation. The app may be removed from app stores or remain unpatched; no workaround exists within the app itself.