This Blog Post was done in cooperation with James Line
A note on these insights.
The findings outlined in this blog post were drawn from the condensed results of a Malcore scan. To review the exhaustive findings of Malcore’s static analysis of Expedia’s mobile app APK, click the button below.
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Discovered Trackers
Google Firebase Analytics
High severity warnings, from code analysis
The App uses an insecure Random Number Generator.
App creates temp file. Sensitive information should never be written into a temp file.
Files may contain hardcoded sensitive information like usernames, passwords, keys etc.
Insecure Implementation of SSL. Trusting all the certificates or accepting self signed certificates is a critical Security Hole. This application is vulnerable to MITM attacks
This App has capabilities to prevent against Screenshots from Recent Task History/ Now On Tap etc.
App uses SQLite Database and execute raw SQL query. Untrusted user input in raw SQL queries can cause SQL Injection. Also sensitive information should be encrypted and written to the database.
App can read/write to External Storage. Any App can read data written to External Storage.
Suspicious severity warnings, from code analysis
Application attempts to discover build version of device
Dangerous permissions, per Android labels
Findings as to the existence of permissions which Android’s developers have labelled “Dangerous”, per the documentation available here.
Name: CHANGE_NETWORK_STATE
Description: Allows an application to change the state of network connectivity.
Name: DISABLE_KEYGUARD
Description: Allows an application to disable the key lock and any associated password security. A legitimate example of this is the phone disabling the key lock when receiving an incoming phone call, then re-enabling the key lock when the call is finished.
Name: USE_CREDENTIALS
Description: Allows an application to request authentication tokens.
Name: ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION
Description: Access coarse location sources, such as the mobile network database, to determine an approximate phone location, where available. Malicious applications can use this to determine approximately where you are.
Name: ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE
Description: Allows an application to view the status of all networks."
Name: NFC
Description: Allows an application to communicate with Near-Field Communication (NFC) tags, cards and readers.
Name: ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION
Description: Access fine location sources, such as the Global Positioning System on the phone, where available. Malicious applications can use this to determine where you are and may consume additional battery power.
Name: ACTIVITY_RECOGNITION
Description: Allows an application to recognize physical activity.
Name: ACCESS_BACKGROUND_LOCATION
Description: Allows an app to access location in the background.
Name: WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
Description: Allows an application to write to the SD card.
Name: MANAGE_ACCOUNTS
Description: Allows an application to perform operations like adding and removing accounts and deleting their password.
Name: READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
Description: Allows an application to read from SD Card.
Name: WRITE_SYNC_SETTINGS
Description: Allows an application to modify the sync settings, such as whether sync is enabled for Contacts.
Name: WAKE_LOCK
Description: Allows an application to prevent the phone from going to sleep.
Name: CHANGE_WIFI_STATE
Description: Allows an application to connect to and disconnect from Wi-Fi access points and to make changes to configured Wi-Fi networks.
Name: READ_CONTACTS
Description: Allows an application to read all of the contact (address) data stored on your phone. Malicious applications can use this to send your data to other people.
To view how these results compare within industry see our analysis:
To view how these scores are created visit our transparency post where we published a description of our phone application threat scoring algorithm.