How to Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation in Android Apps

Last updated October 10, 2024 by Appdome

This Knowledge Base article describes how to use Appdome’s AI/ML in your CI/CD pipeline to continuously deliver plugins that Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation in Android apps.

What is ODEX-ART Manipulation?

ODEX-ART Manipulation refers to techniques and processes related to modifying ODEX files in the context of the Android Runtime (ART) on Android devices. Here’s a breakdown of these concepts:

Android Runtime (ART): ART is the runtime environment for Android devices, introduced as a replacement for the older Dalvik runtime with Android 5.0 (Lollipop). ART improves app performance and responsiveness by compiling apps at installation time into native machine code, a process known as Ahead-of-Time (AOT) compilation. This contrasts with Dalvik’s Just-in-Time (JIT) compilation approach, which compiles code as it is being executed.

ODEX Files: ODEX (Optimized Dalvik Executable) files are optimized versions of Android application packages (APKs). In the context of ART, these files store precompiled code that helps speed up app launch and execution by reducing the need for JIT compilation during runtime.

Why Should I Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation?

Detecting ODEX-ART manipulation is critical for several reasons, especially in the contexts of security, software integrity, and maintaining a trusted environment on Android devices. Here are the key reasons why you should be vigilant about detecting ODEX-ART manipulation:

Security: Malicious actors often use ODEX-ART manipulation to inject harmful code into apps or the Android system. This could lead to malware spread, data breaches, or other security incidents. Detecting such manipulations helps in identifying compromised applications before they can do harm.

Integrity and Trust: Ensuring that the ODEX files have not been tampered with is crucial for maintaining the integrity of the applications and the operating system. Manipulation might compromise the intended functionality of software, leading to unexpected behavior that could confuse users or lead to faulty operations.

Compliance and Licensing: In environments where regulatory compliance or software licensing enforcement is critical, detecting manipulation can ensure that only approved, legitimate versions of software are in use. This is particularly important in business or enterprise settings where software compliance issues can lead to legal consequences.

Performance Consistency: Manipulation of ODEX files could potentially degrade the performance of an application or even the entire system. Monitoring for such changes ensures that performance remains optimal and consistent with the expectations set by app developers and hardware manufacturers.

Preventing Fraud and Tampering: In scenarios involving financial transactions or sensitive data processing, ODEX-ART manipulation could be used to alter the flow of transactions or exfiltrate data. Detecting such manipulation helps prevent fraud and protects user data.

 

By implementing measures to detect ODEX-ART manipulation, organizations, can protect their mobile apps from a variety of risks associated with unauthorized changes to software running on Android devices. This is particularly important as mobile devices continue to play a central role in both personal and professional contexts, where security and reliability are paramount.

Prerequisites for Using Appdome's Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation Plugins:

To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation , you’ll need:

How to Implement Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation in Android Apps Using Appdome

On Appdome, follow these 3 simple steps to create self-defending Android Apps that Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation without an SDK or gateway:

  1. Designate the Mobile App to be protected.

    1. Upload an app via the Appdome Mobile Defense platform GUI or via Appdome’s DEV-API or CI/CD Plugins.

    2. Android Formats: .apk or .aab
    3. Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation is compatible with: Java, JS, C++, C#, Kotlin, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, Cordova and other Android apps.
  2. Select the defense: Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation.

      1. Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation feature as shown below:
        fusion set that contains Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation

        Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation feature

      2. Follow the steps in Sections 2.2-2.2.2 of this article to add the Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation feature to your Fusion Set via the Appdome Console.

      3. When you select the Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation you'll notice that the Fusion Set you created in step 2.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation.

        Fusion Set applied Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation

        Figure 2: Fusion Set that displays the newly added Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation protection
        Note: Annotating the Fusion Set to identify the protection(s) selected is optional only (not mandatory).

      4. Open the Fusion Set Detail Summary by clicking the “...” symbol on the far-right corner of the Fusion Set. Copy the Fusion Set ID from the Fusion Set Detail Summary (as shown below): fusion Set Detail Summary image

        Figure 3: Fusion Set Detail Summary

      5. Follow the instructions below to use the Fusion Set ID inside any standard mobile DevOps or CI/CD toolkit like Bitrise, Jenkins, Travis, Team City, Circle CI or other system:
        1. Refer to the Appdome API Reference Guide for API building instructions.
        2. Look for sample APIs in Appdome’s GitHub Repository.
    1. Add the Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation feature to your security template.

      1. Navigate to Build > Anti Fraud tab > Mobile Malware Prevention section in the Appdome Console.
      2. Toggle On > Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation.

        (a) Choose to monitor this attack vector by checking the Threat Events checkbox associated with Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation as shown below.

        (b) To receive mobile Threat Monitoring, check the ThreatScope™ box as shown below. For more details, see our knowledge base article on ThreatScope™ Mobile XDR.
        Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation option

        Figure 4: Selecting Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation

        Note: The Appdome Platform displays the Mobile Operation Systems supported by each defense in real-time. For more details, see our OS Support Policy KB.

      3. Select the Threat-Event™ in-app mobile Threat Defense and Intelligence policy for Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation:
        1. Threat-Events™ OFF > In-App Defense

          If the Threat-Events™ setting is not selected. Appdome will detect and defend the user and app by enforcing ODEX-ART Manipulation.

        2. Threat-Events™ ON > In-App Detection

          When this setting is used, Appdome detects the presence of ODEX Art manipulation and passes Appdome’s Threat-Event™ attack intelligence to the app’s business logic for processing, enforcement, and user notification. For more information on consuming and using Appdome Threat-Events™ in the app, see section Using Threat-Events™ to Detect ODEX-ART ManipulationDetect Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps.

        3. Threat-Events™ ON > In-App Defense

          When this setting is used, Appdome detects and defends against ODEX-ART Manipulation (same as Appdome Enforce) and passes Appdome’s Threat-Event™ attack intelligence to the app’s business logic for processing. For more information on consuming and using Appdome Threat-Events™ in the app, see section Using Threat-Events™ for Detect ODEX-ART ManipulationDetect Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps.

      4. Configure the User Experience Options for Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation:
        With Threat-Events™ OFF, Appdome provides several user experience options for mobile brands and developers.
        1. App Compromise Notification: Customize the pop-up or toast Appdome uses to notify the user when a threat is present while using the protected mobile app.
        2. Short message Option. This is available for mobile devices that allow a banner notification for security events.
        3. Localized Message Option. Allows Appdome users to support global languages in security notifications.

          Localized Message

          Figure 5: Default User Experience Options for Appdome’s ODEX-ART Manipulation

        4. Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation Threat Code™. Appdome uses AI/ML to generate a unique code each time Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation is triggered by an active threat on the mobile device. Use the code in Appdome Threat Resolution Center™ to help end users identify, find and resolve active threats on the personal mobile devices.
    2. Initiate the build command either by clicking Build My App at the bottom of the Build Workflow (shown in Figure 4) or via your CI/CD as described in Section 2.1.4.
    Congratulations!  The Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation protection is now added to the mobile app
  3. Certify the Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation feature in Android Apps

    After building Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation, Appdome generates a Certified Secure™ certificate to guarantee that the Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation protection has been added and is protecting the app. To verify that the Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation protection has been added to the mobile app, locate the protection in the Certified Secure™ certificate as shown below: Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation shown in Certificate secure

    Figure 6: Certified Secure™ certificate

    Each Certified Secure™ certificate provides DevOps and DevSecOps organizations the entire workflow summary, audit trail of each build, and proof of protection that Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation has been added to each Android app. Certified Secure provides instant and in-line DevSecOps compliance certification that Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation and other mobile app security features are in each build of the mobile app.

Using Threat-Events™ for ODEX-ART Manipulation Intelligence and Control in Android Apps

Appdome Threat-Events™ provides consumable in-app mobile app attack intelligence and defense control when ODEX-ART Manipulation is detected. To consume and use Threat-Events™ for ODEX-ART Manipulation in Android Apps, use registerReceiver in the Application OnCreate, and the code samples for Threat-Events™ for ODEX-ART Manipulation shown below.

The specifications and options for Threat-Events™ for ODEX-ART Manipulation are:

Threat-Event™ Elements Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation Method Detail
Appdome Feature Name Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation
Threat-Event Mode
OFF, IN-APP DEFENSE Appdome detects, defends and notifies user (standard OS dialog) using customizable messaging.
ON, IN-APP DETECTION Appdome detects the attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (app chooses how and when to enforce).
ON, IN-APP DEFENSE Uses Appdome Enforce mode for any attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (gather intel on attacks and threats without losing any protection).
Certified Secure™ Threat Event Check
Visible in ThreatScope™
Developer Parameters for Detecting ODEX-ART Manipulation Threat-Event™
Threat-Event NAME OatIntegrityBadCommandLine
Threat-Event DATA reasonData
Threat-Event CODE reasonCode
Threat-Event REF 6801
Threat-Event SCORE
currentThreatEventScore Current Threat-Event score
threatEventsScore Total Threat-events score
Threat-Event Context Keys
message Message displayed for the user on event
failSafeEnforce Timed enforcement against the identified threat
externalID The external ID of the event which can be listened via Threat Events
osVersion OS version of the current device
deviceModel Current device model
deviceManufacturer The manufacturer of the current device
fusedAppToken The task ID of the Appdome fusion of the currently running app
kernelInfo Info about the kernel: system name, node name, release, version and machine.
carrierPlmn PLMN of the device. Only available for Android devices.
deviceID Current device ID
reasonCode Reason code of the occurred event
buildDate Appdome fusion date of the current application
devicePlatform OS name of the current device
carrierName Carrier name of the current device. Only available for Android.
updatedOSVersion Is the OS version up to date
deviceBrand Brand of the device
deviceBoard Board of the device
buildUser Build user
buildHost Build host
sdkVersion Sdk version
timeZone Time zone
deviceFaceDown Is the device face down
locationLong Location longitude conditioned by location permission
locationLat Location latitude conditioned by location permission
locationState Location state conditioned by location permission
wifiSsid Wifi SSID
wifiSsidPermissionStatus Wifi SSID permission status
threatCode The last six characters of the threat code specify the OS, allowing the Threat Resolution Center to address the attack on the affected device.

With Threat-Events™ enabled (turned ON), Android developers can get detailed attack intelligence and granular defense control in Android applications and create amazing user experiences for all mobile end users when ODEX-ART Manipulation is detected.


The following is a code sample for native Android apps, which uses all values in the specification above for Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation:


Important! Replace all placeholder instances of <Context Key> with the specific name of your threat event context key across all language examples. This is crucial to ensure your code functions correctly with the intended event data. For example, The <Context Key> could be the message, externalID, OS Version, reason code, etc.



Using Appdome, there are no development or coding prerequisites to build secured Android Apps by using Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation. There is no SDK and no library to code or implement in the app and no gateway to deploy in your network. All protections are built into each app and the resulting app is self-defending and self-protecting.

Releasing and Publishing Mobile Apps with Detect ODEX-ART Manipulation

After successfully securing your app by using Appdome, there are several available options to complete your project, depending on your app lifecycle or workflow. These include:

Related Articles:

 

How Do I Learn More?

If you have any questions, please send them our way at support.appdome.com or via the chat window on the Appdome platform.

Thank you!

Thanks for visiting Appdome! Our mission is to secure every app on the planet by making mobile app security easy. We hope we’re living up to the mission with your project.

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