This Blog was written in Cooperation with Ben Sullivan
Insights
This blog has been taken from Malcore’s analysis results. The points below are not an exhaustive list. For a full view of Malcore’s static analysis of the Booking.com APK view it on Malcore.
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Discovered Trackers
Google CrashLytics
Uber Analytics
Google Firebase Analytics
Google AdMob
High severity warnings from code analysis
App creates temp file. Sensitive information should never be written into a temp file.
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
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.
The App uses an insecure Random Number Generator.
Files may contain hardcoded sensitive informations like usernames, passwords, keys etc.
This App has capabilities to prevent against Screenshots from Recent Task History/ Now On Tap etc.
This App may request root (Super User) privileges.
Suspicious severity warnings from code analysis
Application attempts to discover build version of device.
Dangerous Labelled permissions from Android
Android Dangerous labelled permissions as Dangerous from this library https://developer.android.com/reference/android/Manifest.permission.
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: CAMERA
Description: Allows application to take pictures and videos with the camera. This allows the application to collect images that the camera is seeing at any time.
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: CHANGE_NETWORK_STATE
Description: Allows an application to change the state of network connectivity.
Name: WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
Description: Allows an application to write to the SD card.
Name: ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE
Description: Allows an application to view the status of all networks.
Name: WAKE_LOCK
Description: Allows an application to prevent the phone from going to sleep.
Name: CALL_PHONE
Description: Allows the application to call phone numbers without your intervention. Malicious applications may cause unexpected calls on your phone bill. Note that this does not allow the application to call emergency numbers.
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.