Develop Reference

How to read/write file slacks in Android with JNI?

I am building a forensic tool, that shall read and write from file slacks. At the moment I use JNI to call the C functions read() and write() to write a buffer to the FAT SD card (also EXT4 internal memory would be nice). I use those because you can pass the length to read/write thus ignoring EOF.
I already tried writing by using a standard write and then truncate it in order to write in the file slack, which works on ubuntu 14.04 but not on Android (API 21).
Reading more from a file than the actuall file size does not reflect the flie slack on the SD-card.
There are tools e.g. "bmap" or "slacker.exe" (for NTFS) that manage to access file slacks. I am in need of a way to ignore EOF or handle it myself. I would prefere not to change existing file system drivers.
I appreciate any suggestions.
here is some sample code (that does not work yet):
jstring
Java_com_example_hellojni_HelloJni_write(JNIEnv *env, jobject thiz, jstring path)
{
char *cpath = (*env)->GetStringUTFChars(env, path, NULL);
int raw_file_descriptor = open(cpath,O_WRONLY,0);
lseek(raw_file_descriptor,0,SEEK_END);
char block_buffer [4096] = "hidden";
int buffer_length = 6;
int wret = write(raw_file_descriptor,block_buffer,buffer_length); // increases file size and moves EOF - I don't want that
LOGD(" char written: %d", wret);
free(cpath);
return (*env)->NewStringUTF(env, "write ok ");
}
jbyteArray
Java_com_example_hellojni_HelloJni_read2(JNIEnv *env, jobject thiz, jstring path) {
char *cpath = (*env)->GetStringUTFChars(env, path, NULL);
LOGD("open %s with ", cpath);
int raw_file_descriptor = open(cpath,O_RDONLY,0);
char buffer [4096];
int readretval = read(raw_file_descriptor, buffer, 50); // stops at EOF - I want it to continue reading all 50 bytes from the SD-card - This gives me the file content until EOF and then I get some random characters from the uninitialized buffer.
LOGD("read (%d) buffer with length %d: %s", readretval, sizeof(buffer), buffer);
int i; // Debug code
for (i=0; i < 49; ++i) {
LOGD("%c",buffer[i]);
}
close(raw_file_descriptor);
free(cpath);
return NULL;
}

Apparently this way is impossible. But with root it is possible to write file slack via mounting a loop back device. Still, ignoring EOF is not possible without changing the driver or implementing your own kernel module.

debugging C native function android ndk - sendto()

I've implemented a C native function with for android NDK, to send UDP packets.
I have a working receiver but i seem to get nothing when i use the sender.
How can i get more info from the return value of sendto? I'm having a hard time debugging native functions - no "debug step mode"
can anyone see anything wrong about the sender code? is there something im not doing right?
Thanks!
jstring
Java_com_example_adhocktest_SenderUDP_SendUdpJNI( JNIEnv* env,
jobject thiz, jstring ip, jstring message)
{
int PORT = 8888;
int i;
int sock_fd;
char *_ip = (*env)->GetStringUTFChars(env, ip, 0);
char *send_buf = (*env)->GetStringUTFChars(env, message, 0);
////////////////
//////// create socket
////////////////
if (( sock_fd = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_DGRAM, 0)) < 0 ) {
return (*env)->NewStringUTF(env,"Cannot create socket");
}
struct sockaddr_in myaddr;
////////////////
//////// send
////////////////
struct sockaddr_in servaddr;
memset((char*)&servaddr, 0, sizeof(servaddr));
servaddr.sin_family = AF_INET;
servaddr.sin_port = 8888;
if ((inet_aton(_ip,&servaddr.sin_addr)) == 0) {
return (*env)->NewStringUTF(env,"Cannot decode IP address");
}
int retval = sendto(sock_fd, send_buf, strlen(send_buf), 0, (struct sockaddr*)&servaddr, sizeof(servaddr));
close(sock_fd);
char str[100];
if ( retval < 0) {
sprintf(str, "sendto failed with %d", retval);
} else {
sprintf(str, "sendto success with %d", retval);
}
return (*env)->NewStringUTF(env,str);
}

The problem in the code was this line
servaddr.sin_port = 8888;
the correct line would be
servaddr.sin_port = htons(8888);
the reason for this was explained here by
bornruffians:
" htons() stands for "host-to-network short". On a given platform
(called the host), it converts the endianness of a short (16-bit
generally) integer to the endianness required for sending on the
network (generally big endian).
sendto() returns the number of bytes sent. You should check that
retval is the string length of your 'send_buf' variable, not just a
positive value."
Thanks all for your help,
Ben.

If it's still not working, did you give your app the necessary permissions for manipulating sockets?
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
htons() stands for "host-to-network short". On a given platform (called the host), it converts the endianness of a short (16-bit generally) integer to the endianness required for sending on the network (generally big endian).
sendto() returns the number of bytes sent. You should check that retval is the string length of your 'send_buf' variable, not just a positive value.

Send Java FD via UNIX Domain sockets using JNI

I am writting an application for Android which passes a JAVA fd taken from ParcelFileDescriptor.getFd() which according to [1] states that the int I get back is a native fd.
Now, with this fd, I am trying to write it over a unix domain socket to the existing process which is listening. To do this, I am using JNI and I pass the int received above to the JNI function as an argument named fdToSend.
When my JNI code attempts to call sendmsg(), an error occurs stating "Bad file number".
With some help from google, It seems like the socket connection might be closed when I call sendmsg(), but I cannot see how this would be the case.
The sendfd() method is exactly as found in [2].
Below is my bridging JNI function:
JNIEXPORT jint JNICALL Java_com_example_myapp_AppManager_bridgeSendFd(JNIEnv *env, jint fdToSend) {
int fd;
struct sockaddr_un addr;
if ( (fd = socket(AF_UNIX, SOCK_STREAM, 0)) == -1) {
__android_log_print(ANDROID_LOG_ERROR, APPNAME, "socket() failed: %s (socket fd = %d)\n", strerror(errno), fd);
return (jint)-1;
}
memset(&addr, 0, sizeof(addr));
addr.sun_family = AF_UNIX;
strncpy(addr.sun_path, "/data/data/com.example.myapp/sock_path", sizeof(addr.sun_path)-1);
if (connect(fd, (struct sockaddr*)&addr, sizeof(addr)) == -1) {
__android_log_print(ANDROID_LOG_ERROR, APPNAME, "connect() failed: %s (fd = %d)\n", strerror(errno), fd);
return (jint)-1;
}
return (jint)sendfd(fd, (int)fdToSend);
}
[1] http://developer.android.com/reference/android/os/ParcelFileDescriptor.html#getFd()
[2] https://stackoverflow.com/a/4491203/2796346

Turns out the issue was the JNI function declaration.
The first arg is JNIEnv, the second is jclass THEN it's the values passed in from Java (i.e. for me, fdToSend).
So, my guess is that since I was using the second arg (supposed to be a jclass), then I'm probably getting a memory reference or something weird like that.
As seen here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/10743451/2796346

Android UDP client not able to receive data on non-rooted phone

I have implemented a UDP client on android's native part(i.e. in C). Inorder to receive data from the server(PC) both my device and PC are connected over a wifi connection.
When the client is put on a rooted device, it is able to receive data from the server perfectly. However on a non-rooted device, although it doesnt show any error, it is not able to send/receive data form/to the server.
Below is my server code:
#include<sys/types.h>
#include<sys/socket.h>
#include<netinet/in.h>
#include<sys/stat.h>
#include<unistd.h>
#include<stdlib.h>
#include<stdio.h>
#include<fcntl.h>
int main()
{
int cont,create_socket,new_socket,addrlen,fd;
int bufsize = 3000;
int nameLen=0;
int client_address_size=0;
char *buffer = malloc(bufsize);
char fname[256];
struct sockaddr_in address,client;
if ((create_socket = socket(AF_INET,SOCK_DGRAM,0)) > 0)
printf("The socket was created\n");
address.sin_family = AF_INET;
address.sin_addr.s_addr = INADDR_ANY;
address.sin_port = htons(15000);
if (bind(create_socket,(struct sockaddr *)&address,sizeof(address))== 0)
printf("Binding Socket\n");
nameLen=sizeof(address);
if (getsockname(create_socket,(struct sockaddr *)&address,&nameLen)<0)
{
printf("\n\ngetsockname() error\n");
exit(3);
}
printf("Port assigned is %d\n", ntohs(address.sin_port));
client_address_size=sizeof(client);
if(recvfrom(create_socket,fname, 255,0,(struct sockaddr *) &client,&client_address_size)<0)
{
printf("\n\nrecvfrom() failed\n");
exit(4);
}
printf("A request for filename %s Received..\n", fname);
if ((fd=open(fname, O_RDONLY))<0)
{
perror("File Open Failed");
exit(0);
}
while((cont=read(fd, buffer, bufsize))>0)
{
sleep(1);
sendto(create_socket,buffer,cont,0,(struct sockaddr *) &client,client_address_size);
printf("\n\nPacket sent\n");
}
sendto(create_socket,"*",1,0,(struct sockaddr *) &client,client_address_size);
printf("Request Completed\n");
return close(create_socket);
}
client code on android NDK:
JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_com_examplemyPlayer_startClient
(JNIEnv *env, jclass jobj, jint portNo, jstring argv1)
{
__android_log_print(ANDROID_LOG_DEBUG,"MYAPP","start client has entered....",NULL);
//int portno=portNo;
const char *servIP = (*env)->GetStringUTFChars(env, argv1, 0);
__android_log_print(ANDROID_LOG_DEBUG,"MYAPP","Server IP address:%s",servIP);
__android_log_print(ANDROID_LOG_DEBUG,"MYAPP","Server Port No.:%d",portno);
qBuff=(unsigned char *)malloc(sizeof(char)*Q_SIZE);//qBuff is a global pointer
int create_socket,cont;
int bytesWritten=0;
int bufsize = 3000;
int server_address_size=0;
char *buffer = malloc(bufsize);
char reqFname[8]="Bub.bin";
struct sockaddr_in address,server;
int serv_addr_size = sizeof(address);
if ((create_socket = socket(AF_INET,SOCK_DGRAM,0)) < 0)
__android_log_print(ANDROID_LOG_DEBUG,"MYAPP","The Socket was NOT created",NULL);
__android_log_print(ANDROID_LOG_DEBUG,"MYAPP","The Socket was successfully created",NULL);
address.sin_family = AF_INET;
address.sin_port = htons(15000);
address.sin_addr.s_addr=inet_addr(servIP);
if((sendto(create_socket, reqFname, sizeof(reqFname), 0,(struct sockaddr *) &address,sizeof(address)))==-1)
__android_log_print(ANDROID_LOG_DEBUG,"MYAPP","Error sending filename to server",NULL);
__android_log_print(ANDROID_LOG_DEBUG,"MYAPP","Request Accepted... \n\nReceiving File...",NULL);
server_address_size=sizeof(server);
__android_log_print(ANDROID_LOG_DEBUG,"MYAPP","Contents of the file are:",NULL);
while((cont=recvfrom(create_socket, buffer, bufsize, 0,(struct sockaddr *) &address,&serv_addr_size))>0)
{
if(buffer[cont-1]=='*')
break;
memcpy(qBuff+r,buffer,cont);//copying received data to a circular queue
r=(r+3000)%Q_SIZE;
__android_log_print(ANDROID_LOG_DEBUG,"MYAPP","Bytes received:%d",cont);
//write(1, buffer, cont);
}
__android_log_print(ANDROID_LOG_DEBUG,"MYAPP","EOF",NULL);
free(qBuff);
close(create_socket);
}
The above code works fine for a rooted device, but not on an unrooted one. Since the application that i'm creating should be able to run on both rooted and unrooted devices, i need to make the code run on an unrooted device also.
The server was able to connect to the rooted device only after diabling the Linux firewall using /sbin/services iptable stop. So is there a firewall for unrooted device which is blocking the communication port. In the above code i'm trying port no 15000. However i have also tried for other ports also but did'nt workout.
So i kindly request the readers to provide useful answers or reference links for the same. Thanks in advance.

Android NDK Networking problems: TCP Connection fails

I'm having some troubles with the Android NDK.
My project requires software components written in C that can receive data over TCP to be executed on the Android OS.
To that end, I've made a simple server and client in C using BSD sockets and can send messages back and forth successfully across the connection on PCs. Now I've moved the clientside code into the NDK, and can't connect to my server from the emulator or from an actual android device. NDK compiles without warnings or errors, the emulator/phone are on wifi and have internet permissions enabled in the manifest. What gives?
All it does is make a socket, fill in host/port info and attempt to connect: If it does connect, send a message, else return an error. Android always returns a negative value for connect
This client code, compiled/executed on Mac/Windows/Linux, works:
PC Client code:
int tcp_socket = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM,0);
if(tcp_socket< 0 ) {
cerr << "Failed to create TCP socket." << endl;
return 2;
}
sockaddr_in server_tcp_add;
server_tcp_add.sin_family = AF_INET;
server_tcp_add.sin_port = htons(tcp_port); //set via command line: Yes, they are the same for the android
hostent *hostp = gethostbyname(server_host);
memcpy(&server_tcp_add.sin_addr, hostp->h_addr, hostp->h_length);
socklen_t slen = sizeof(server_tcp_add);
if(connect(tcp_socket,(sockaddr*)&server_tcp_add, slen) <0 ){
cerr<< "Failed to connect to server with TCP. " << endl;
close(tcp_socket);
return 3;
}
char* myString = "This is my message";
send(tcp_socket, myString, strlen(myString), 0);
close(tcp_socket);
This code, executed on the Android NDK, does not
Code: NDK Client
jstring Java_networking_client_activate_initiateTcpConnection(JNIEnv* env, jobject javaThis){
int tcp_socket = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM,0);
if(tcp_socket < 0){
return (*env)->NewStringUTF(env, "ERROR CREATING SOCKET");
}
const char* server_host = "some.numbers.that.work"; //It's a valid IP I don't feel like sharing
unsigned short server_port = 43000;
struct sockaddr_in server_tcp_addr;
server_tcp_addr.sin_family = AF_INET;
server_tcp_addr.sin_port = htons(server_port);
struct hostent *hostp = gethostbyname(server_host);
memcpy(&server_tcp_addr, hostp->h_addr, hostp->h_length);
socklen_t slen = sizeof(server_tcp_addr);
if(connect(tcp_socket,(struct sockaddr*)&server_tcp_addr, slen) < 0){ //fails here
close(tcp_socket);
return (*env)->NewStringUTF(env, "ERROR CONNECTING TO SERVER");
}
char* message = "hello from android!";
send(tcp_socket, &message, sizeof(message),0);
return (*env)->NewStringUTF(env, "TCP message sent!");
}
Largely identical; required to put struct in front of everything for NDK to compile.
--edit--I should also mention, I have been able to send data over sockets in Java with this app. Just the C sockets that's really screwing stuff up. Even a sample of someone else that has C sockets working via NDK would be tremendously appreciated.

This is a very late answer, however it might still be useful...
I changed this line:
memcpy(&server_tcp_addr, hostp->h_addr, hostp->h_length);
to this:
memcpy(&server_tcp_addr.sin_addr.s_addr, hostp->h_addr, hostp->h_length);
and that did the trick for me.