Lack of root detection

Lack of root detection

Description

The application does not check whether the Android system on which it is running has been rooted.

Impact

Install malicious tools in order to cause unexpected behaviors.

Recommendation

Validate that the device is not rooted at application startup.

Threat

Unauthorized attacker with a rooted device and the APK installed.

Expected Remediation Time

⌚ 120 minutes.

Score

Default score using CVSS 3.1. It may change depending on the context of the src.

Base

  • Attack vector: L
  • Attack complexity: L
  • Privileges required: N
  • User interaction: N
  • Scope: U
  • Confidentiality: L
  • Integrity: L
  • Availability: N

Temporal

  • Exploit code maturity: X
  • Remediation level: X
  • Report confidence: X

Result

  • Vector string: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N/E:X/RL:X/RC:X
  • Score:
    • Base: 5.1
    • Temporal: 5.1
  • Severity:
    • Base: Medium
    • Temporal: Medium

Score 4.0

Default score using CVSS 4.0. It may change depending on the context of the src.

Base 4.0

  • Attack vector: L
  • Attack complexity: L
  • Attack Requirements: N
  • Privileges required: N
  • User interaction: N
  • Confidentiality (VC): L
  • Integrity (VI): L
  • Availability (VA): N
  • Confidentiality (SC): N
  • Integrity (SI): N
  • Availability (SA): N

Threat 4.0

  • Exploit maturity: X

Result 4.0

  • Vector string: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X
  • Score:
    • CVSS-BT: 5.1
  • Severity:
    • CVSS-BT: Medium

Compliant code

Better methods to check for root access include examples like this one, that runs the su command to verify root access

                public static boolean isRootGiven(){
  if (isRootAvailable()) {
    Process process = null;
    try {
      process = Runtime.getRuntime().exec(new String[]{"su", "-c", "id"});
      BufferedReader in = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(process.getInputStream()));
      String output = in.readLine();
      if (output != null && output.toLowerCase().contains("uid=0"))
        return false;
    } catch (Exception e) {
      e.printStackTrace();
    } finally {
      if (process != null)
        process.destroy();
    }
  }
  return true;
}

            

Non compliant code

A not recommended method to check for rooting could be testing for test-keys, which is correlated but does not guarantee root access

                private static boolean checkRootMethod1() {
  String buildTags = android.os.Build.TAGS;
  return buildTags != null && buildTags.contains("test-keys");
}

            

Requirements

Fixes

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