CoreSec LabsAndroid Application Security

Android application security

Find exploitable Android security risks before release.

CoreSec Labs helps product and engineering teams identify exploitable Android risk before release. Our analyst-led assessments combine APK review, runtime testing, reverse engineering, and mobile API security into clear findings your developers can reproduce, prioritize, and fix.

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OWASP MASVS aligned
Manual analyst review
Developer-ready remediation
Retest support

Android security services built around real mobile risk

CoreSec Labs focuses on the attack paths that matter most to Android teams: exposed package data, runtime behavior, reverse engineering risk, backend trust boundaries, and remediation that developers can act on.

Before release

Find issues that could delay launch, expose customers, or create avoidable production risk.

Across the attack surface

Assess the Android client, runtime behavior, local data, mobile APIs, and backend trust assumptions.

After testing

Receive validated findings, reproduction steps, remediation guidance, and retest support.

01

Android Penetration Testing

Manual security testing across app, identity, data, device, network, and backend trust boundaries.

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Attack paths

Focused on practical exploitation, not scanner noise.

  • Authentication, authorization, session, and API abuse testing.
  • Local storage, logs, clipboard, screenshots, and cache exposure review.
  • Deep links, intents, WebViews, IPC, and exported component testing.
02

APK Reverse Engineering

Decompile and analyze the application to expose secrets, assumptions, and bypassable controls.

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APK analysis

We assess the app exactly as a motivated attacker would.

  • Secrets, keys, endpoints, feature flags, and hardcoded logic discovery.
  • Obfuscation, anti-debugging, anti-tamper, and emulator detection review.
  • Client-side trust decisions and business logic bypass analysis.
03

Secure Code Review

Review Kotlin, Java, native code, dependencies, build settings, and release configuration.

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Code risk

Security review focused on high-impact implementation flaws.

  • Crypto misuse, weak randomness, unsafe parsing, and insecure storage.
  • Manifest, permissions, backups, signing, and debuggable build checks.
  • Dependency, SDK, and third-party library risk identification.
04

Runtime Instrumentation Analysis

Assess runtime behavior, instrumentation exposure, root bypass, and tamper resistance.

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Frida aware

Dynamic analysis shows what actually happens on-device.

  • Frida-style observation, hook feasibility, and runtime control-flow analysis.
  • Root, emulator, debug, jailbreak-style, and tamper detection bypass review.
  • Network behavior, telemetry, sensitive API usage, and privacy-impact evidence.
05

Mobile App Hardening

Convert findings into durable controls that raise attacker cost without breaking usability.

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Defense design

Practical guidance that separates useful hardening from security theater.

  • Certificate pinning, secure storage, root detection, and tamper response strategy.
  • Release build protection, logging reduction, and anti-instrumentation layers.
  • Engineering-ready remediation patterns with implementation tradeoffs.
06

MASVS-Aligned Reporting

Evidence-based reporting for engineering action, leadership visibility, and governance review.

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Risk evidence

Reports are designed to help teams fix, verify, and close risk.

  • Risk-ranked findings with reproduction steps, screenshots, impact, and fixes.
  • MASVS-style mapping, retest notes, and closure-ready evidence.
  • Executive summary plus technical appendix for developers and auditors.

Security testing tied to business outcomes.

Android security is not only a technical checklist. It supports release readiness, customer trust, fraud reduction, compliance conversations, and safer engineering decisions.

Ship with fewer unknownsIdentify high-impact mobile risks before a public release or major update. Give developers useful evidenceProvide reproduction steps, impact, affected components, and practical remediation notes. Protect customer trustReduce the chance of preventable app-side exposure, account abuse, or sensitive data leakage.

What we test in detail

This section provides the technical depth behind the services above. It shows the specific Android, runtime, reverse engineering, and API areas reviewed during an assessment.

Static Package Review

This review focuses on what an attacker can discover by unpacking, decompiling, and inspecting the Android package before the app even runs.

What we test
  • Manifest entries, permissions, intents, and deep links
  • Hardcoded tokens, keys, endpoints, and environment values
  • Exported components and insecure configuration
  • Risky WebView implementation and dependency exposure
Common risk examples
  • Secrets embedded in the package
  • Overexposed Android components
  • Cleartext traffic settings or debug leftovers
  • Third-party SDKs with unnecessary risk
Why it matters
Static review helps prevent avoidable release risk by identifying what attackers can discover without sophisticated access, and what engineering teams can fix before the app reaches production users.

Device & Runtime Security

This review validates how the app behaves on a real or controlled device, including storage, sessions, network behavior, instrumentation, and tamper conditions.

What we test
  • Local storage, logs, cache, clipboard, and databases
  • Session lifecycle, token handling, and account switching
  • TLS behavior, proxy resistance, and certificate pinning
  • Tamper, instrumentation, root, and emulator behavior
Common risk examples
  • Sensitive tokens exposed in storage or logs
  • Weak session invalidation after logout
  • Bypassable certificate pinning or trust issues
  • Runtime checks that are easy to disable or manipulate
Why it matters
Runtime validation shows whether the app protects data the way the design intends, especially when a user device is hostile, modified, or observed by an attacker.

Reverse Engineering Review

This review determines what attackers can understand, extract, or alter by decompiling code, reviewing libraries, and inspecting client-side business logic.

What we test
  • Decompiled logic, code paths, and exposed features
  • Obfuscation depth and bypass resistance
  • Native library and string inspection
  • Hidden logic, fraud controls, and tamper decisions
Common risk examples
  • Business logic exposed in readable client code
  • Weak obfuscation that reveals sensitive workflows
  • Premium or fraud-related checks easy to bypass
  • Hidden endpoints or internal feature flags discoverable in the app
Why it matters
Reverse engineering findings help protect intellectual property, reduce fraud opportunities, and show which trust decisions should not remain on the client side.

Mobile API Security

This review determines whether backend services remain secure when the Android client is observed, modified, replayed, or used outside the intended workflow.

What we test
  • Authorization and object-level access control
  • Replay, tampering, and broken workflow logic
  • Data exposure and verbose error handling
  • Server trust in client-side decisions and parameters
Common risk examples
  • IDOR and broken object authorization
  • Excessive data returned to the client
  • Replayable sensitive actions
  • Server logic that trusts app-side flags too much
Why it matters
Strong mobile APIs are essential because attackers do not need to use the app as intended. API validation helps reduce fraud, unauthorized access, and exposure of customer data through the mobile channel.

How an assessment moves from scope to validation

The engagement flow keeps the work clear: define the target, test the agreed attack surface, document validated risk, and confirm important fixes after remediation.

1

Scope & Plan

Define the app build, test accounts, API environment, release timeline, critical workflows, and assessment boundaries.

2

Assess

Perform static package review, runtime validation, reverse engineering, and mobile API testing against the agreed scope.

3

Report

Document validated issues with evidence, business impact, affected components, reproduction steps, and remediation guidance.

4

Retest & Support

Retest important fixes, confirm residual risk, and support a safer release decision with clear validation notes.

Why teams choose CoreSec Labs

CoreSec Labs is designed for teams that need focused Android expertise, manual validation, and clear communication from scope through retesting.

Independent Android focus

The work is centered on Android packages, runtime behavior, reverse engineering, and mobile API risk instead of broad, generic testing.

Manual validation over scanner noise

Findings are validated for real impact so your team can focus on exploitable risk instead of low-value automated output.

Clear communication from scope to retest

The engagement is structured so expectations, evidence, remediation priorities, and validation results remain easy to understand.

What clients receive

Clear deliverables that help leadership understand risk and help developers fix validated Android security issues.

Executive summary

Business-facing context, top risks, release concerns, and recommended priorities for decision-makers.

Technical findings

Evidence, impact, affected components, reproduction steps, and severity reasoning for each validated issue.

Remediation guidance

Practical developer guidance focused on root cause, secure behavior, and recommended fixes.

Retest validation

Confirmation that important fixes were applied correctly, with remaining risk clearly documented.

Frequently asked questions

Common questions about Android assessment scope, source code, timelines, and remediation validation.

Do you require source code?
No. Assessments can be performed using APK/AAB files, test accounts, and API access. Source-assisted reviews are also possible when requested.
Is the assessment focused only on Android?
CoreSec Labs focuses on Android mobile application security, including APK/AAB analysis, runtime testing, reverse engineering, mobile API security, and remediation validation.
How long does an assessment usually take?
Most Android assessments take one to three weeks depending on application complexity, API scope, test depth, and retesting needs.
Do you support remediation validation?
Yes. Important fixes can be retested to confirm the issue was resolved, document remaining risk, and support a safer release decision.
Do you require written authorization?
Yes. CoreSec Labs performs security testing only under written authorization, defined scope, approved accounts, and agreed testing boundaries.

Speak with CoreSec Labs

Ready to secure your Android application?

Share the target build, release timeline, test environment, and assessment goals. CoreSec Labs will help define a focused Android security assessment that supports your business and engineering priorities.

Contact CoreSec Labs
801 Travis Street, Suite 2101
Houston, TX 77002
United States

contact@coreseclabs.com

Confidential assessment handling