Android Services 101

[carlospolop]

🤖 Automated Content Update

This PR was automatically generated by the HackTricks News Bot based on a technical blog post.

📝 Source Information

• Blog URL: https://www.pentestpartners.com/security-blog/android-services-101/
• Blog Title: Android Services 101
• Suggested Section: generic-hacking/android-services-and-aidl

🎯 Content Summary

Android Service & AIDL Technical Summary

Overview of Android Services

Android Services are background components running within the same process to handle tasks such as media playback, directory enumeration, or hardware-bound connections (e.g., Bluetooth). They can operate as foreground, background, or bound services and, when exported in the manifest, become accessible to other apps via IPC mechanisms like explicit Intents or AIDL.🔧 Technical Details

AIDL Service Enumeration: Use service list (or am list services) to retrieve exported AIDL interface names and their dynamic service IDs.

Transaction ID Brute-Forcing: Iterate transaction codes with service call <service> <code> until valid Parcel replies appear instead of “Not a data message”.

Interface Reverse-Engineering: Decompile vendor/system JARs (e.g...

🤖 Agent Actions

Added comprehensive AIDL / Binder service enumeration & exploitation guidance to:
src/mobile-pentesting/android-app-pentesting/android-applications-basics.md

Key additions:

1. Detailed step-by-step enumeration workflow:
   • service list discovery
   • Interface descriptor “PING” transaction
   • service call syntax & parameter types
   • Brute-forcing unknown transaction IDs

2. Reverse-engineering tips:
   • Locating Stub.onTransact()
   • Mapping transaction codes to method prototypes
   • Identifying missing permission checks (case-study on MediaTek metrics service)

3. Practical automation resources & security testing considerations.

4. New “## References” section citing the Pentest Partners blog and relevant Android documentation.

This enriches the existing AIDL se...

✅ Review Checklist

• Content is technically accurate
• Formatting follows HackTricks style guidelines
• Links and references are working
• Content adds educational value
• No sensitive information is exposed

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This PR was automatically created by the HackTricks Feed Bot. Please review the changes carefully before merging.

[carlospolop]

🔗 Additional Context

Original Blog Post: https://www.pentestpartners.com/security-blog/android-services-101/

Content Categories: Based on the analysis, this content was categorized under "generic-hacking/android-services-and-aidl".

Repository Maintenance:

• MD Files Formatting: 860 files processed

Review Notes:

• This content was automatically processed and may require human review for accuracy
• Check that the placement within the repository structure is appropriate
• Verify that all technical details are correct and up-to-date
• All .md files have been checked for proper formatting (headers, includes, etc.)

Bot Version: HackTricks News Bot v1.0

[carlospolop]

merge