Web Browser \& ExplorerApplication · Web Browser \& Explorer Project

CVE-2014-5774

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-09-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
The Web Browser & Explorer (aka internetexplorer.browser.webexplorer) application 4 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 confidence

The Android application 'Web Browser & Explorer' version 4 fails to validate X.509 certificates from SSL servers, allowing man-in-the-middle attackers to present fraudulent certificates and intercept encrypted communications, potentially exposing sensitive user data.

MitigationAvoid using this vulnerable browser for sensitive transactions until an updated version with proper SSL certificate validation is available, or implement certificate chain validation and pinning in the application code.

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
Web Browser \& ExplorerApplication
Affected:= 4.0

CVSS 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify if Web Browser & Explorer app is installed
    Check installed applications on the Android device through Settings > Apps or by using 'adb shell pm list packages' to see if an app with 'web browser' or 'explorer' in the name is present
    Affected if The app 'Web Browser & Explorer' is found on the device
  2. Verify the installed version is 4.0
    Access the app info screen in Settings > Apps > Web Browser & Explorer, or use 'adb shell dumpsys package <package_name>' to read the versionInfo. Compare the version number to the affected range (4.0)
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 4.0
  3. Confirm the app uses network/HTTP functionality
    Review app permissions in Settings > Apps > Permissions, or check AndroidManifest.xml for INTERNET or network-related permissions granted to the browser app
    Affected if The app has network permissions enabled, making the SSL validation flaw exploitable for intercepted communications

You are affected if Web Browser & Explorer version 4.0 is installed and has network access permissions, as the certificate validation weakness exists in the application code itself for this specific version.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Avoid using this vulnerable browser for sensitive transactions until an updated version with proper SSL certificate validation is available, or implement certificate chain validation and pinning in the application code.

Fix this in Web Browser \& Explorer Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,180
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Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2014-5774 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data