How to Detect Accessibility Service Abuse in Android Apps
This Knowledge Base article describes how to use Appdome’s AI/ML in your CI/CD pipeline to continuously deliver plugins that Detect AccessibilityService abuse in Android apps.
What is Android Accessibility Service Abuse?
Accessibility Services are OS settings/features in Android designed to assist users with disabilities (for example, screen readers, speech-to-text, and touch events). These features run in the background and receive callbacks from the system when accessibility events are fired, allowing them to react to UI state transitions (for example, the focus has changed, the button was clicked, or content in the active window was queried).
When an app’s Accessibility Services features are enabled it often grants the app permissions that can be abused, especially if the app is a clone, trojan, or malware app. Such malicious apps often request elevated permissions or trick users into enabling AccessibilityServices, which the app will then abuse (at the user’s or your app’s expense). The potential malicious uses of AccessibilityServices services include performing click actions (for example, committing click fraud, inputting data into forms fraudulently, impersonating the real mobile user, or cheating in mobile games). Other potential abusive actions are reading and writing SMS messages and emails, intercepting and reading 2FA codes, stealing cryptocurrency keys, and remotely controlling mobile devices or apps.
For these reasons, it is advisable to be aware when Accessibility Services are enabled for a malicious app and to protect the target application (your app) from being abused or compromised.
How does Appdome Protect Against Accessibility Service Abuse?
When Accessibility Service Abuse is detected, Appdome ensures that the app closes and the user receives a notification informing them about the detection and suggesting the option to turn off their Accessibility Services via the settings.
Note: You can either leave the default app compromise notification as is or edit it. In addition, you can create a localized compromise notification message by uploading a CSV or JSON file. Ensure that in this file, you specify the locale (e.g., en_US) on the left column and the localized message on the right column.
Note: The toggle Accessibility Service Abuse is only displayed when enabling the feature Prevent Accessibility Service Malware.
Prerequisites for Using Appdome's Accessibility Service Abuse Plugins:
To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Detect AccessibilityService abuse , you’ll need:
- Appdome account (create a free Appdome account here)
- A license for Accessibility Service Abuse
- Mobile App (.apk or .aab for Android)
- Signing Credentials (see Signing Secure Android apps and Signing Secure iOS apps)
How to Implement Detect AccessibilityService abuse in Android Apps Using Appdome
On Appdome, follow these 3 simple steps to create self-defending Android Apps that Detect AccessibilityService abuse without an SDK or gateway:
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Designate the Mobile App to be protected.
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Upload an app via the Appdome Mobile Defense platform GUI or via Appdome’s DEV-API or CI/CD Plugins.
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Android Formats: .apk or .aab
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Accessibility Service Abuse is compatible with: Java, JS, C++, C#, Kotlin, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, Cordova and other Android apps.
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Select the defense: Accessibility Service Abuse.
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Follow the steps in Sections 2.2-2.2.2 of this article to add the Accessibility Service Abuse feature to your Fusion Set via the Appdome Console.
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When you select the Accessibility Service Abuse you'll notice that the Fusion Set you created in step 2.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains Accessibility Service Abuse.
Figure 2: Fusion Set that displays the newly added Accessibility Service Abuse protection
Note: Annotating the Fusion Set to identify the protection(s) selected is optional only (not mandatory). -
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):
Figure 3: Fusion Set Detail Summary
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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:
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Refer to the Appdome API Reference Guide for API building instructions.
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Look for sample APIs in Appdome’s GitHub Repository.
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Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the Accessibility Service Abuse feature as shown below:Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the Accessibility Service Abuse feature
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Add the Accessibility Service Abuse feature to your security template.
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Navigate to Build > Anti Fraud tab > Mobile Malware Prevention section in the Appdome Console.
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Toggle On > Accessibility Service Abuse.
(a) Choose to monitor this attack vector by checking the Threat Events checkbox associated with Accessibility Service Abuse 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.Figure 4: Selecting Detect AccessibilityService abuse
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. -
Select the Threat-Event™ in-app mobile Threat Defense and Intelligence policy for Accessibility Service Abuse:
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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 AccessibilityService abuse.
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Threat-Events™ ON > In-App Detection
When this setting is used, Appdome detects that the AccessibilityServices services are enabled 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 Accessibility Service AbuseDetect Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps.
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Threat-Events™ ON > In-App Defense
When this setting is used, Appdome detects and defends against AccessibilityService abuse (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 Accessibility Service AbuseDetect Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps.
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Configure the User Experience Options for Accessibility Service Abuse:
With Threat-Events™ OFF, Appdome provides several user experience options for mobile brands and developers.- 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.
- Short message Option. This is available for mobile devices that allow a banner notification for security events.
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Localized Message Option. Allows Appdome users to support global languages in security notifications.
Figure 5: Default User Experience Options for Appdome’s AccessibilityService abuse
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Accessibility Service Abuse Threat Code™. Appdome uses AI/ML to generate a unique code each time Accessibility Service Abuse 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.
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Congratulations! The Accessibility Service Abuse protection is now added to the mobile app -
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Certify the Accessibility Service Abuse feature in Android Apps
After building Accessibility Service Abuse, Appdome generates a Certified Secure™ certificate to guarantee that the Accessibility Service Abuse protection has been added and is protecting the app. To verify that the Accessibility Service Abuse protection has been added to the mobile app, locate the protection in the Certified Secure™ certificate as shown below:
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 Accessibility Service Abuse has been added to each Android app. Certified Secure provides instant and in-line DevSecOps compliance certification that Accessibility Service Abuse and other mobile app security features are in each build of the mobile app.
Using Threat-Events™ for AccessibilityService abuse Intelligence and Control in Android Apps
Appdome Threat-Events™ provides consumable in-app mobile app attack intelligence and defense control when AccessibilityService abuse is detected. To consume and use Threat-Events™ for AccessibilityService abuse in Android Apps, use registerReceiver in the Application OnCreate, and the code samples for Threat-Events™ for AccessibilityService abuse shown below.
The specifications and options for Threat-Events™ for AccessibilityService abuse are:
Threat-Event™ Elements | Detect AccessibilityService abuse Method Detail |
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Appdome Feature Name | Accessibility Service Abuse |
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 AccessibilityService abuse Threat-Event™ | |
Threat-Event NAME | AccessibilityServiceDetected |
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 | |
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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 AccessibilityService abuse is detected.
The following is a code sample for native Android apps, which uses all values in the specification above for Accessibility Service Abuse:
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.
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IntentFilter intentFilter = new IntentFilter();
intentFilter.addAction("AccessibilityServiceDetected");
BroadcastReceiver threatEventReceiver = new BroadcastReceiver() {
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
String message = intent.getStringExtra("message"); // Message shown to the user
String reasonData = intent.getStringExtra("reasonData"); // Threat detection cause
String reasonCode = intent.getStringExtra("reasonCode"); // Event reason code
// Current threat event score
String currentThreatEventScore = intent.getStringExtra("currentThreatEventScore");
// Total threat events score
String threatEventsScore = intent.getStringExtra("threatEventsScore");
// Replace '<Context Key>' with your specific event context key
// String variable = intent.getStringExtra("<Context Key>");
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
}
};
if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.TIRAMISU) {
registerReceiver(threatEventReceiver, intentFilter, Context.RECEIVER_NOT_EXPORTED);
} else {
registerReceiver(threatEventReceiver, intentFilter);
}
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val intentFilter = IntentFilter()
intentFilter.addAction("AccessibilityServiceDetected")
val threatEventReceiver = object : BroadcastReceiver() {
override fun onReceive(context: Context?, intent: Intent?) {
var message = intent?.getStringExtra("message") // Message shown to the user
var reasonData = intent?.getStringExtra("reasonData") // Threat detection cause
var reasonCode = intent?.getStringExtra("reasonCode") // Event reason code
// Current threat event score
var currentThreatEventScore = intent?.getStringExtra("currentThreatEventScore")
// Total threat events score
var threatEventsScore = intent?.getStringExtra("threatEventsScore")
// Replace '<Context Key>' with your specific event context key
// var variable = intent?.getStringExtra("<Context Key>")
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
}
}
if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.TIRAMISU) {
registerReceiver(threatEventReceiver, intentFilter, Context.RECEIVER_NOT_EXPORTED)
} else {
registerReceiver(threatEventReceiver, intentFilter)
}
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const { ADDevEvents } = NativeModules;
const aDDevEvents = new NativeEventEmitter(ADDevEvents);
function registerToDevEvent(action, callback) {
NativeModules.ADDevEvents.registerForDevEvent(action);
aDDevEvents.addListener(action, callback);
}
export function registerToAllEvents() {
registerToDevEvent(
"AccessibilityServiceDetected",
(userinfo) => Alert.alert(JSON.stringify(userinfo))
var message = userinfo["message"] // Message shown to the user
var reasonData = userinfo["reasonData"] // Threat detection cause
var reasonCode = userinfo["reasonCode"] // Event reason code
// Current threat event score
var currentThreatEventScore = userinfo["currentThreatEventScore"]
// Total threat events score
var threatEventsScore = userinfo["threatEventsScore"]
// Replace '<Context Key>' with your specific event context key
// var variable = userinfo["<Context Key>"]
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
);
}
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RegisterReceiver(new ThreatEventReceiver(), new IntentFilter("AccessibilityServiceDetected"));
class ThreatEventReceiver : BroadcastReceiver
{
public override void OnReceive(Context context, Intent intent)
{
// Message shown to the user
String message = intent.GetStringExtra("message");
// Threat detection cause
String reasonData = intent.GetStringExtra("reasonData");
// Event reason code
String reasonCode = intent.GetStringExtra("reasonCode");
// Current threat event score
String currentThreatEventScore = intent.GetStringExtra("currentThreatEventScore");
// Total threat events score
String threatEventsScore = intent.GetStringExtra("threatEventsScore");
// Replace '<Context Key>' with your specific event context key
// String variable = intent.GetStringExtra("<Context Key>");
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
}
}
x
NSNotificationCenter.DefaultCenter.AddObserver(
(NSString)"AccessibilityServiceDetected", // Threat-Event Identifier
delegate (NSNotification notification)
{
// Message shown to the user
var message = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("message");
// Threat detection cause
var reasonData = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("reasonData");
// Event reason code
var reasonCode = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("reasonCode");
// Current threat event score
var currentThreatEventScore = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("currentThreatEventScore");
// Total threat events score
var threatEventsScore = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("threatEventsScore");
// Replace '<Context Key>' with your specific event context key
// var variable = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("<Context Keys>");
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
}
);
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window.broadcaster.addEventListener("AccessibilityServiceDetected", function(userInfo) {
var message = userInfo.message // Message shown to the user
var reasonData = userInfo.reasonData // Threat detection cause
var reasonCode = userInfo.reasonCode // Event reason code
// Current threat event score
var currentThreatEventScore = userInfo.currentThreatEventScore
// Total threat events score
var threatEventsScore = userInfo.threatEventsScore
// Replace '<Context Key>' with your specific event context key
// var variable = userInfo.<Context Keys>
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
});
x
import 'dart:async';
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:flutter/services.dart';
class PlatformChannel extends StatefulWidget {
const PlatformChannel({super.key});
State<PlatformChannel> createState() => _PlatformChannelState();
}
class _PlatformChannelState extends State<PlatformChannel> {
// Replace with your EventChannel name
static const String _eventChannelName = "AccessibilityServiceDetected";
static const EventChannel _eventChannel = EventChannel(_eventChannelName);
void initState() {
super.initState();
_eventChannel.receiveBroadcastStream().listen(_onEvent, onError: _onError);
}
void _onEvent(Object? event) {
setState(() {
// Adapt this section based on your specific event data structure
var eventData = event as Map;
// Example: Accessing 'externalID' field from the event
var externalID = eventData['externalID'];
// Customize the rest of the fields based on your event structure
String message = eventData['message']; // Message shown to the user
String reasonData = eventData['reasonData']; // Threat detection cause
String reasonCode = eventData['reasonCode']; // Event reason code
// Current threat event score
String currentThreatEventScore = eventData['currentThreatEventScore'];
// Total threat events score
String threatEventsScore = eventData['threatEventsScore'];
// Replace '<Context Key>' with your specific event context key
// String variable = eventData['<Context Keys>'];
});
}
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
}
Using Appdome, there are no development or coding prerequisites to build secured Android Apps by using Accessibility Service Abuse. 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 Accessibility Service Abuse
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:
- Customizing, Configuring & Branding Secure Mobile Apps.
- Deploying/Publishing Secure mobile apps to Public or Private app stores.
- Releasing Secured Android & iOS Apps built on Appdome.
Related Articles:
- Prevent ATS Malware in Android Apps
- How to Detect Cloak & Dagger Attack
- Use Accessibility Service Consent
- How to Set Trusted Accessibility Services
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.