How can one check if an app is actually using the permissions it asked for in its manifest file.
Note: Source code of app will be provided.
According to me, we can manually solve this problem. But can't generalize it.
Any guidance to solve it will be appreciated.
You can use apkinspector. This will show you exactly in the code where permissions are used.
You could rebuild the apk and see when it crashes, using logcat to see what permission what requested.
Related
The apk needs system permissions. After adding android:sharedUserId="android.uid.system", it is found that the vpn does not work properly, and it is no problem after canceling。
After adding android:sharedUserId="android.uid.system" in the app, the error is that the following code returns null。
enter image description here
Please tell me the reason and solution, thank you.
This bug was fixed in Android11
I am trying to sign an APK file, that is, add permission to change the system. In particular, the time change on android. I follow the example https://russianblogs.com/article/14971784004/. But I have this highlighted in red in the Manifest file - android:name="android.permission.SET_TIME". So I can't even set a signature. I didn't find any answers anywhere. Tell me, please, what should I do?
I think you are trying use
reverse engineering
First for that you must sign application with key , so please read about apk tool
I'm just trying to justify the permissions that my app requires and realize that I can't remember why I needed android.permission.READ_LOGS
I can't seem to figure out which classes I use need this permission. I've commented out the permission and the app builds fine. However it builds fine if I remove all permissions. Running it crashes for some of those missing permissions, however I can't figure out which function uses the READ_LOGS permission.
Is there something in android studio that will flag missing permissions if you comment out ones you need? Or some cross reference of classes to permissions?
I really don't want to ask users for permissions that are not needed nor justified at least.
If you are using any critical Permission then android studio will definitely point out by showing error that permission is missing for function.
If you are specifically asking about android.permission.READ_LOGS so this permission allows an application to read the low-level system log files. Means for the devices when you want to read the log then this is used.
Other way is you can check the Official Doc of permission that which permission is used for which purpose so you can match it with set in your Manifest file. Keep the one you need and remove the one you dont need. But in coding it ll just point for the Critical permissions otherwise it ll give error when you are executing your app during testing.
Hope you got the answer. If any doubt then you can comment below.
If I wanted to research how and where permissions [requested in the Mainfest.xml] were used in an Android app for the purposes of removing them is there an easy way of doing this? Does lint or findbugs offer some sort of support for tracking permissions used/abused in a project?
I came from the future to save your lives.
Here (in the future), LINT does check for missing permissions as you can see on LINT checks.
So, go to your AndroidManifest.xml and remove all tags <uses-permission> using Android permissions (meaning, don't delete permissions that belong to your app, such as UA_DATA and C2D_MESSAGE).
Then run LINT analysis. Click on Analyze then Inspect Code...
Look under Android -> Constant and Resource Type Mismatches
You should see all missing permissions.
Then you can just right-click them and select Apply fix "Add Permission". If you select this option, Android Studio will include one permission for every error. So you'll end up with multiple copies of the same permission on your Manifest file, just delete the duplicates. You can do it manually too.
Here is the description of the LINT rule:
ID ResourceType
Description
This inspection looks at Android API calls that have been annotated with various support annotations (such as RequiresPermission or UiThread) and flags any calls that are not using the API correctly as specified by the annotations. Examples of errors flagged by this inspection:
Passing the wrong type of resource integer (such as R.string) to an API that expects a different type (such as R.dimen).
Forgetting to invoke the overridden method (via super) in methods that require it
Calling a method that requires a permission without having declared that permission in the manifest
Passing a resource color reference to a method which expects an RGB integer value.
...and many more. For more information, see the documentation at http://developer.android.com/tools/debugging/annotations.html
I'm using Android Studio 2.1.2.
In your app manifest file you should have a tab "Merged Manifest" there you can see your final manifest and the permissions you request you can click on a permission to see where it came from. (who added it - ex': sdk or what code it came from)
There is also a simple way to remove a permission by adding to manifest:
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION"
tools:node="remove" />
Also remember to add the tools at the top:
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
package="...">
The way I would do it for an app for which I didn't write the code would be to remove the permissions one by one and test the app end-to-end each time. When it fails, narrow it down. If not, that permission may not be used.
You will have to try removing them one by one and checking i fthe app still works OK. This is not checked by lint in any way (it should be).
When they come back (they are currently down), you can upload your apk to this website (if that's ok with you) and let them statically analyse the permissions you are using: http://www.android-permissions.org/
Best way is to understand what the may actually do. If it is ever going to use the camera then you know you need the camera permission.
Or you could just learn what your app does and then go through the permissions and see which ones are extra. What does your app do, what phone features does it use. There should be some documentation somewhere on what it should do and what methods are in there
I am working on app where I required to change manifest file.
I saw long before to change package name at time of sign apk, but not able to find that also.
so is there any way to change Version Code, Package Name and Pnermission using code..
As said here the possible changes at runtime are very limited. At least for standard no-root-required software (Not sure though if root privileges really help for that matter). It's hard to guess what you're trying to accomplish but after all the manifest was made to fix such things as version code, package name and permissions before your app is compiled.
So please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think what you are trying to do is not possible.