drozer: A security testing framework for Android

by do son · March 28, 2024

drozer

drozer is a security testing framework for Android.

drozer allows you to search for security vulnerabilities in apps and devices by assuming the role of an app and interacting with the Android Runtime, other apps’ IPC endpoints, and the underlying OS. drozer provides tools to help you use, share, and understand public Android exploits.

drozer came about because we were tired of having to create dozens of custom, one-use applications to test for vulnerabilities during the security assessment of an Android app or device. The process was laborious and wasted a lot of time.

The need for a proper tool for dynamic analysis on Android was clear, and drozer was born. drozer allows you to assume the role of an Android app and interact with other apps. It can do anything that an installed application can do, such as make use of Android’s Inter-Process Communication (IPC) mechanism and interact with the underlying operating system.

Faster Android Security Assessments

drozer helps to reduce the time taken for Android security assessments by automating tedious and time-consuming tasks. It allows testers and reverse-engineers to:

Discover and interact with the attack surface exposed by Android apps.
Execute dynamic Java-code on a device, to avoid the need to compile and install small test scripts.

Test on Real Android Devices

drozer runs both in Android emulators and on real devices. It does not require USB debugging or other development features to be enabled; so you can perform assessments on devices in their production state to get better results.

Automate and Extend

drozer can be easily extended with additional modules to find, test, and exploit other weaknesses; this, combined with scripting possibilities, helps you to automate regression testing for security issues.