CVE-2014-5589
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedThe Now Browser (Material) (aka com.browser.nowbasic) 2.8.1 application Material 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.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceThe Now Browser (Material) Android application version 2.8.1 fails to validate X.509 certificates from SSL servers during HTTPS connections, enabling man-in-the-middle attackers to intercept traffic by presenting fraudulent certificates and spoof legitimate servers.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data= 2.8.1CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Adjacent
- Complexity
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:A/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify if Now Browser (Material) is installedOn the Android device, go to Settings > Apps or check the app drawer for an app named 'Now Browser' or 'Now Browser (Material)'Affected if The app is present on the device and is the Now Browser application
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Check the installed version numberIn Settings > Apps > Now Browser (Material), look at the Version or Version name field. Alternatively, use ADB command: adb shell dumpsys package com.nowbrowser.nowbrowser.material | grep versionNameAffected if The version displayed is exactly 2.8.1
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Verify HTTPS browsing capabilityOpen the browser and attempt to navigate to an HTTPS website (e.g., https://example.com). The vulnerability only applies when the app makes HTTPS connectionsAffected if HTTPS connections are initiated through this browser, as the certificate validation flaw affects all HTTPS traffic from the app
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Check for SSL certificate validation interceptionUse a network proxy (such as Burp Suite or OWASP ZAP) configured to intercept SSL traffic. Attempt to browse an HTTPS site through the Now Browser app with the proxy's self-signed certificate. If the app loads the site without certificate warnings, validation is not occurring properlyAffected if The browser successfully loads HTTPS sites through an intercepting proxy without presenting any certificate warning or error messages
A user is affected if the Now Browser (Material) Android app version 2.8.1 is installed and is used to browse HTTPS websites, as the app fails to properly validate SSL certificates enabling potential traffic interception.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataImplement proper SSL/TLS certificate chain validation and hostname verification in the application's network code, preferably using certificate pinning for sensitive endpoints.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-5589 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2014-5589 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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