Android Hacker's Handbook

The first comprehensive guide to discovering and preventing attacks on the Android OS As the Android operating system continues to increase its share of the smartphone market, smartphone hacking remains a growing threat. Written by experts who rank among the world's foremost Android security researchers, this book presents vulnerability discovery, analysis, and exploitation tools for the good guys. Following a detailed explanation of how the Android OS works and its overall security architecture, the authors examine how vulnerabilities can be discovered and exploits developed for various system components, preparing you to defend against them. If you are a mobile device administrator, security researcher, Android app developer, or consultant responsible for evaluating Android security, you will find this guide is essential to your toolbox. A crack team of leading Android security researchers explain Android security risks, security design and architecture, rooting, fuzz testing, and vulnerability analysis Covers Android application building blocks and security as well as debugging and auditing Android apps Prepares mobile device administrators, security researchers, Android app developers, and security consultants to defend Android systems against attack Android Hacker's Handbook is the first comprehensive resource for IT professionals charged with smartphone security.

Table of Contents:
Introduction xxv Chapter 1 Looking at the Ecosystem 1 Understanding Android’s Roots 1 Company History 2 Version History 2 Examining the Device Pool 4 Open Source, Mostly 7 Understanding Android Stakeholders 7 Google 8 Hardware Vendors 10 Carriers 12 Developers 13 Users 14 Grasping Ecosystem Complexities 15 Fragmentation 16 Compatibility 17 Update Issues 18 Security versus Openness 21 Public Disclosures 22 Summary 23 Chapter 2 Android Security Design and Architecture 25 Understanding Android System Architecture 25 Understanding Security Boundaries and Enforcement 27 Android’s Sandbox 27 Android Permissions 30 Looking Closer at the Layers 34 Android Applications 34 The Android Framework 39 The Dalvik Virtual Machine 40 User-Space Native Code 41 The Kernel 49 Complex Security, Complex Exploits 55 Summary 56 Chapter 3 Rooting Your Device 57 Understanding the Partition Layout 58 Determining the Partition Layout 59 Understanding the Boot Process 60 Accessing Download Mode 61 Locked and Unlocked Boot Loaders 62 Stock and Custom Recovery Images 63 Rooting with an Unlocked Boot Loader 65 Rooting with a Locked Boot Loader 68 Gaining Root on a Booted System 69 NAND Locks, Temporary Root, and Permanent Root 70 Persisting a Soft Root 71 History of Known Attacks 73 Kernel: Wunderbar/asroot 73 Recovery: Volez 74 Udev: Exploid 74 Adbd: RageAgainstTheCage 75 Zygote: Zimperlich and Zysploit 75 Ashmem: KillingInTheNameOf and psneuter 76 Vold: GingerBreak 76 PowerVR: levitator 77 Libsysutils: zergRush 78 Kernel: mempodroid 78 File Permission and Symbolic Link–Related Attacks 79 Adb Restore Race Condition 79 Exynos4: exynos-abuse 80 Diag: lit / diaggetroot 81 Summary 81 Chapter 4 Reviewing Application Security 83 Common Issues 83 App Permission Issues 84 Insecure Transmission of Sensitive Data 86 Insecure Data Storage 87 Information Leakage Through Logs 88 Unsecured IPC Endpoints 89 Case Study: Mobile Security App 91 Profiling 91 Static Analysis 93 Dynamic Analysis 109 Attack 117 Case Study: SIP Client 120 Enter Drozer 121 Discovery 121 Snarfing 122 Injection 124 Summary 126 Chapter 5 Understanding Android’s Attack Surface 129 An Attack Terminology Primer 130 Attack Vectors 130 Attack Surfaces 131 Classifying Attack Surfaces 133 Surface Properties 133 Classification Decisions 134 Remote Attack Surfaces 134 Networking Concepts 134 Networking Stacks 139 Exposed Network Services 140 Mobile Technologies 142 Client-side Attack Surface 143 Google Infrastructure 148 Physical Adjacency 154 Wireless Communications 154 Other Technologies 161 Local Attack Surfaces 161 Exploring the File System 162 Finding Other Local Attack Surfaces 163 Physical Attack Surfaces 168 Dismantling Devices 169 USB 169 Other Physical Attack Surfaces 173 Third-Party Modifications 174 Summary 174 Chapter 6 Finding Vulnerabilities with Fuzz Testing 177 Fuzzing Background 177 Identifying a Target 179 Crafting Malformed Inputs 179 Processing Inputs 180 Monitoring Results 181 Fuzzing on Android 181 Fuzzing Broadcast Receivers 183 Identifying a Target 183 Generating Inputs 184 Delivering Inputs 185 Monitoring Testing 185 Fuzzing Chrome for Android 188 Selecting a Technology to Target 188 Generating Inputs 190 Processing Inputs 192 Monitoring Testing 194 Fuzzing the USB Attack Surface 197 USB Fuzzing Challenges 198 Selecting a Target Mode 198 Generating Inputs 199 Processing Inputs 201 Monitoring Testing 202 Summary 204 Chapter 7 Debugging and Analyzing Vulnerabilities 205 Getting All Available Information 205 Choosing a Toolchain 207 Debugging with Crash Dumps 208 System Logs 208 Tombstones 209 Remote Debugging 211 Debugging Dalvik Code 212 Debugging an Example App 213 Showing Framework Source Code 215 Debugging Existing Code 217 Debugging Native Code 221 Debugging with the NDK 222 Debugging with Eclipse 226 Debugging with AOSP 227 Increasing Automation 233 Debugging with Symbols 235 Debugging with a Non-AOSP Device 241 Debugging Mixed Code 243 Alternative Debugging Techniques 243 Debug Statements 243 On-Device Debugging 244 Dynamic Binary Instrumentation 245 Vulnerability Analysis 246 Determining Root Cause 246 Judging Exploitability 260 Summary 261 Chapter 8 Exploiting User Space Software 263 Memory Corruption Basics 263 Stack Buffer Overflows 264 Heap Exploitation 268 A History of Public Exploits 275 GingerBreak 275 zergRush 279 mempodroid 283 Exploiting the Android Browser 284 Understanding the Bug 284 Controlling the Heap 287 Summary 290 Chapter 9 Return Oriented Programming 291 History and Motivation 291 Separate Code and Instruction Cache 292 Basics of ROP on ARM 294 ARM Subroutine Calls 295 Combining Gadgets into a Chain 297 Identifying Potential Gadgets 299 Case Study: Android 4.0.1 Linker 300 Pivoting the Stack Pointer 301 Executing Arbitrary Code from a New Mapping 303 Summary 308 Chapter 10 Hacking and Attacking the Kernel 309 Android’s Linux Kernel 309 Extracting Kernels 310 Extracting from Stock Firmware 311 Extracting from Devices 314 Getting the Kernel from a Boot Image 315 Decompressing the Kernel 316 Running Custom Kernel Code 316 Obtaining Source Code 316 Setting Up a Build Environment 320 Configuring the Kernel 321 Using Custom Kernel Modules 322 Building a Custom Kernel 325 Creating a Boot Image 329 Booting a Custom Kernel 331 Debugging the Kernel 336 Obtaining Kernel Crash Reports 337 Understanding an Oops 338 Live Debugging with KGDB 343 Exploiting the Kernel 348 Typical Android Kernels 348 Extracting Addresses 350 Case Studies 352 Summary 364 Chapter 11 Attacking the Radio Interface Layer 367 Introduction to the RIL 368 RIL Architecture 368 Smartphone Architecture 369 The Android Telephony Stack 370 Telephony Stack Customization 371 The RIL Daemon (rild) 372 The Vendor-RIL API 374 Short Message Service (SMS) 375 Sending and Receiving SMS Messages 376 SMS Message Format 376 Interacting with the Modem 379 Emulating the Modem for Fuzzing 379 Fuzzing SMS on Android 382 Summary 390 Chapter 12 Exploit Mitigations 391 Classifying Mitigations 392 Code Signing 392 Hardening the Heap 394 Protecting Against Integer Overflows 394 Preventing Data Execution 396 Address Space Layout Randomization 398 Protecting the Stack 400 Format String Protections 401 Read-Only Relocations 403 Sandboxing 404 Fortifying Source Code 405 Access Control Mechanisms 407 Protecting the Kernel 408 Pointer and Log Restrictions 409 Protecting the Zero Page 410 Read-Only Memory Regions 410 Other Hardening Measures 411 Summary of Exploit Mitigations 414 Disabling Mitigation Features 415 Changing Your Personality 416 Altering Binaries 416 Tweaking the Kernel 417 Overcoming Exploit Mitigations 418 Overcoming Stack Protections 418 Overcoming ASLR 418 Overcoming Data Execution Protections 419 Overcoming Kernel Protections 419 Looking to the Future 420 Official Projects Underway 420 Community Kernel Hardening Efforts 420 A Bit of Speculation 422 Summary 422 Chapter 13 Hardware Attacks 423 Interfacing with Hardware Devices 424 UART Serial Interfaces 424 I2C, SPI, and One-Wire Interfaces 428 JTAG 431 Finding Debug Interfaces 443 Identifying Components 456 Getting Specifications 456 Difficulty Identifying Components 457 Intercepting, Monitoring, and Injecting Data 459 USB 459 I 2C, SPI, and UART Serial Interfaces 463 Stealing Secrets and Firmware 469 Accessing Firmware Unobtrusively 469 Destructively Accessing the Firmware 471 What Do You Do with a Dump? 474 Pitfalls 479 Custom Interfaces 479 Binary/Proprietary Data 479 Blown Debug Interfaces 480 Chip Passwords 480 Boot Loader Passwords, Hotkeys, and Silent Terminals 480 Customized Boot Sequences 481 Unexposed Address Lines 481 Anti-Reversing Epoxy 482 Image Encryption, Obfuscation, and Anti-Debugging 482 Summary 482 Appendix A Tool Catalog 485 Development Tools 485 Android SDK 485 Android NDK 486 Eclipse 486 ADT Plug-In 486 ADT Bundle 486 Android Studio 487 Firmware Extraction and Flashing Tools 487 Binwalk 487 fastboot 487 Samsung 488 NVIDIA 489 LG 489 HTC 489 Motorola 490 Native Android Tools 491 BusyBox 491 setpropex 491 SQLite 491 strace 492 Hooking and Instrumentation Tools 492 ADBI Framework 492 ldpreloadhook 492 XPosed Framework 492 Cydia Substrate 493 Static Analysis Tools 493 Smali and Baksmali 493 Androguard 493 apktool 494 dex2jar 494 jad 494 JD-GUI 495 JEB 495 Radare 2 495 IDA Pro and Hex-Rays Decompiler 496 Application Testing Tools 496 Drozer (Mercury) Framework 496 iSEC Intent Sniffer and Intent Fuzzer 496 Hardware Hacking Tools 496 Segger J-Link 497 JTAGulator 497 OpenOCD 497 Saleae 497 Bus Pirate 497 GoodFET 497 Total Phase Beagle USB 498 Facedancer 21 498 Total Phase Beagle I2c 498 Chip Quik 498 Hot air gun 498 Xeltek SuperPro 498 IDA 499 Appendix B Open Source Repositories 501 Google 501 AOSP 501 Gerrit Code Review 502 SoC Manufacturers 502 AllWinner 503 Intel 503 Marvell 503 MediaTek 504 Nvidia 504 Texas Instruments 504 Qualcomm 505 Samsung 505 OEMs 506 ASUS 506 HTC 507 LG 507 Motorola 507 Samsung 508 Sony Mobile 508 Upstream Sources 508 Others 509 Custom Firmware 509 Linaro 510 Replicant 510 Code Indexes 510 Individuals 510 Appendix C References 511 Index 523