Lost in Conversion: Exploit Data Structure Conversion with Attribute Loss to Break Android Systems

Inside the operating system, the processing of configuration files tends to be complicated and involves various data operation procedures. On Android, the processing of manifest files (the principal configuration files of Android apps) correlates to multiple core system mechanisms, such as permission and component management. It is widely recognized that improperly configured manifest files can put apps at risk. Even worse, we find that vulnerable configuration data processing can be exploited by crafted manifest files to break the Android system mechanisms, even achieving privilege escalation.

In this work, we systematically studied the Android manifest processing procedures and discovered a new category of vulnerabilities called the Evil Twins flaw. In brief, during the processing of twin manifest elements (with the same name but different attributes), the ill-considered data structure conversion (e.g., from List to Map without considering the duplication issue) merges them into one item with attribute loss, further resulting in system configuration inconsistency, i.e., potential security risks. To detect the Evil Twins flaw lying in the Android OS, we designed an automated analysis tool, TwinDroid, to identify the data structure conversions with attribute loss and then manually confirm the vulnerabilities. With TwinDroid, we assessed the code of AOSP Android 11 & 12. Finally, 47 suspicious methods were reported, and four vulnerabilities were identified, which can be exploited to achieve permission escalation and revoking prevention. All discovered vulnerabilities have been acknowledged by Google, and three CVE IDs have been assigned.