- Platform: Android
- Weakness: MASWE-0018
- Weakness in the numbering of the MASWE beta: MASWE-0063
- Profiles: L1 (basic security), L2 (advanced security)
- Type: static, config, code, manual
- Knowledge: MASTG-KNOW-0134, MASTG-KNOW-0017, MASTG-KNOW-0020
- Best practices: MASTG-BEST-0052
Overview
If an exported receiver does not define android:permission with a proper protection level and performs or grants access to sensitive functionality, another third-party app outside the intended trust boundary can send a broadcast to it and invoke that functionality. See MASTG-KNOW-0134 for details on broadcast receivers, MASTG-KNOW-0017 for permissions and protection levels, and MASTG-KNOW-0020 for the IPC model of Android.
This test checks whether the app exposes sensitive functionality through exported and unprotected broadcast receivers.
Steps
- Use MASTG-TECH-0013 to reverse engineer the app.
- Use MASTG-TECH-0117 to obtain the AndroidManifest.xml.
- Use MASTG-TECH-0162 to list the exported broadcast receivers and their associated
android:permission, including context-registered receivers found in the code. - Use MASTG-TECH-0014 to inspect the
onReceiveimplementation of each exported receiver.
Observation
The output should contain a list of exported broadcast receivers and the relevant parts of their onReceive implementation, including how they use data from the received intent and any permission they require.
Evaluation
The test case fails if any exported broadcast receiver is not protected by an appropriate android:permission that restricts which apps can send broadcasts to it and exposes or performs sensitive functionality, for example by performing a security-relevant action or disclosing sensitive data when it receives a broadcast.
Further Validation Required:
Inspect each exported broadcast receiver using MASTG-TECH-0023 to determine whether it exposes sensitive functionality:
- Determine whether
onReceiveperforms a security-relevant action or discloses sensitive data based on the received intent (for example, reading extras and using them to send a message or change state). - Determine whether the receiver validates the data it reads from the intent before acting on it.
Then determine whether external access to the receiver is appropriately restricted for the functionality it exposes and the app's intended trust boundary:
- Determine whether the receiver has a legitimate reason to accept broadcasts from third-party apps. If it doesn't, it shouldn't be exported.
- If external access is required, determine whether the receiver is protected by an appropriate
android:permissionor an equivalent access control. Appropriate means the control matches the sensitivity of the receiver action and the set of apps that should be allowed to send broadcasts to it. - Verify that the permission is effective for that trust boundary, for example by using a
signatureprotection level or another control that is not broadly grantable to untrusted apps. - Determine whether context-registered receivers are registered with
RECEIVER_NOT_EXPORTEDwhen they don't need to receive broadcasts from other apps.
Pedidos ligados
| Tipo de ligação | Pedido |
|---|---|
| is related to | MASTG-BEST-0052 Restrict Access to Android App Components (Android) |
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