Android Application-Level Virtualization (App Cloning) — How...

[carlospolop]

🤖 Automated Content Update

This PR was automatically generated by the HackTricks News Bot based on a technical blog post.

📝 Source Information

• Blog URL: https://blog.azzahid.com/posts/android-app-virtualization/
• Blog Title: Android Application-Level Virtualization (App Cloning) — How It Works, Abuse, and Detection
• Suggested Section: Mobile Pentesting -> Android Applications Pentesting (new page/topic: Android app virtualization / app cloning frameworks abuse & detection; could also cross-link from Android Anti Instrumentation And Ssl Pinning Bypass / Frida sections)

🎯 Content Summary

The provided “BLOG CONTENT” block does not include the actual post text (it only shows a JavaScript/cookies gate: “Enable JavaScript and cookies to continue”), so I cannot verify or improve the summary against the real article content without access to the full post HTML/text.

Below is an improved, clarity-focused version of the CURRENT RESPONSE while preserving every technical detail already present (code/paths/commands/logs/tooling) and keeping a logical flow from baseline Android behavior → ...

🔧 Technical Details

Permission escalation via shared-UID app virtualization: If a container/clone “host” runs guest APK code under the host’s Linux UID, the guest effectively executes with the host’s granted Android permissions, even if the guest manifest did not request them. An attacker can abuse an over-permissioned host (often evidenced by an unusually large manifest) as a permission umbrella to perform privileged actions and access protected data beyond the guest’s intended capability.

Runtime dex/class-loading control by hooking native dex loading: Virtualization frameworks can interpose on dex loading (e.g., by hooking the path that reaches openDexFileNative from DexFile.openDexFile) to redirect, modify, or monitor which dex files are loaded at runtime. This enables stealthy code introduction/instrumentation and evasion of static analysis because important behavior may be introduced dynamically rather than existing plainly in the guest APK.

Fingerprint virtualization by detecting multiple APK map...

🤖 Agent Actions

Summary:

• Added a dedicated Android app-level virtualization/app cloning page covering shared-UID abuse, dex/class-loader interception, stealthy code loading, detection via /proc/<pid>/maps, instrumentation artifact spotting, and crash-tamper probing, plus hardening notes.
• Linked the new page from the Android Applications Pentesting “Other interesting tricks” section for discoverability.

Tests:

• Not run (not applicable).

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This PR was automatically created by the HackTricks Feed Bot. Please review the changes carefully before merging.

[carlospolop]

🔗 Additional Context

Original Blog Post: https://blog.azzahid.com/posts/android-app-virtualization/

Content Categories: Based on the analysis, this content was categorized under "Mobile Pentesting -> Android Applications Pentesting (new page/topic: Android app virtualization / app cloning frameworks abuse & detection; could also cross-link from Android Anti Instrumentation And Ssl Pinning Bypass / Frida sections)".

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