Questions tagged [security]
For more generic questions relating security issues. For specific issues having their own tags, please use those -- e.g. 'malware', 'antivirus', 'privacy', 'lost-phone'. Please see the full tag wiki for more. For more in-depth Android security issues, you might rather want to visit our sister-site at http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/android
1,305
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Understanding different types of Persistent Evil Maid Attacks
My previous phone coolpad mega 2.5d had no issues with persistent backdoors(factory reset was enough)
But when i got a redmi 4x, backdoors were persistent even after a factory reset and a reflash of ...
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26
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Testing Play Integrity API in Android SDK emulator
I want to test my app with the Google Play verdict API, especially MEETS_STRONG_INTEGRITY. To test, I plan to use Android Studio as I have always done, but when I create a device, I cannot approve the ...
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1
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22
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Lost Huawei P30 Pro and data protection
I recently lost my Huawei P30 Pro smartphone and I'm concerned because the phone contained personal data.
I don't want anyone to get access to that data.
The phone was protected by a 6 figure password ...
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Should I keep the serial number of my phone private?
I've just purchased a new, sealed Samsung Galaxy S24 online and the seller is now asking me for a picture of the "About phone" page. He says it's to "keep track of the item", but I'...
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What's the state of Kaspersky (on Android) in 2024?
TL;DR, is Kaspersky safe to use given the current political situation?
I decided to download an antivirus and scan my device after accidentally clicking on a really suspicious link. Once I was done ...
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24
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Unusual entry in Google web & app activity
On my google web & app activity I noticed an unusual entry. Should I be concerned? It says:
Used: qualcomm.qti.services.secureui.com
Any ideas?
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22
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Getting anonymous notifications everyday two times
The notification title : test
Notification message : running
I would like to understand whether this notification is from the system or someone trying to hack my phone. Two weeks back I suspect some ...
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1
answer
68
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Is the received SMS from Google with a code genuine?
I just received an SMS, the phone shows that the sender is "Google"
it says:
.Google (some Arabic) G-123131231 (some code basically).
Could this actually be Google?
Why was it sent to me?
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75
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Pull password.key file without rooting
Is there a way to access the password.key file without rooting the phone?
Is there a way of reading the chip without going through the Android security stuff to gain full access?
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46
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How do I know what kind of code fix was given to a specific CVE for Android?
Consider CVE-2023-21385 which was discovered in AOSP. In this security bulletin, they mentioned that this issue was fixed.
Is there any chance to know what kind of fix was given to this CVE (code ...
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41
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Permissions: How to deny an app Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT
As the admin of my android device, I'd like to configure the device to return a permission denied error to all apps that request Intent.ACTION_GET_CONTENT by default, unless I explicitly give it ...
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Set up an Android device to only access Google Docs
I would like to create a dedicated word processing device that can only access Google Docs (and possibly Google Drive) and nothing more. The idea is to configure it to be completely free of any other ...
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48
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Android App Lock AND see the notification
When using app lock, the notification from the locked apps show as "1 new message" (and not the content)
This forces me to open the notification/app to see the content of the notification.
...
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Locked my phone with "find my device" and can't open it
I have seen this question several times but have not found an answer helpful to me. I am new to Stack Overflow and cannot comment, so I am going to ask it again. I just copied someone who asked the ...
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138
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How to remove pattern lock In Samsung Phone without data loss?
I have a Samsung Galaxy M12 which I forgot the Pattern lock of it and This has some very important data in it. So, Now I have been running around Internet for the probable solution but nothing worked ...
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569
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Require password to turn off for all Android devices
A relative of mine recently lost his phone and someone turned it off immediately and now the phone is missing. Find My Device was unable to locate the phone as it had been turned off.
I have a few ...
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58
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Power off requires password for all android phone [duplicate]
One of my relatives dropped their phone and someone picked it up and turned it off. Now there is no way to locate it as Find My Device does not show it anymore.
I have an Android 12 device and there ...
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67
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Determining what apps are being used to spy over my screen
I would like to know whether there is a way to determine whether someone is looking at my phone screen while I use my phone.
I ask because I once had a pop-up window and granted access, but I don't ...
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168
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What all methods can be used for detecting malware on lower partitions where antiviruses cannot reach?
I had bought a used phone from a friend and was facing issues like password changes and media leakage as shown by my other friends
so I scanned using antiviruses like Malwarebytes,Kaspersky,lookout, ...
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79
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Data protection (making files persist across time)
In this post I am addressing a real issue that Android users may face.
Suppose, over the course of my lifetime, I have been storing my files in Google Drive. These, may be important files. Perhaps I ...
2
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1
answer
161
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Can Outlook Device Policy monitor anything outside of the app?
In order to get emails for work on my phone I need to enable this feature. My worry is that this will allow my employer to monitor personal things on my phone such as my internet search history or ...
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185
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Android stalkerware abilities
I have a Xiaomi Redmi 4 (4X). I just unlocked the bootloader and cleaned all flashed my phone because the stalkerware my friend installed wasn't going away by a factory reset.
After some days from ...
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144
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How can I unlock the lock screen of my RealMe 9 Pro Plus without formatting device, or retrieve just the storage?
I haven't been able to unlock my Realme 9 Pro Plus phone with the passwords that I remember. And I'm not sure what to do next.
I have always found it a bugging issue when my Realme phone asks me to ...
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65
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Lock WiFi settings for the ordinary user with a password
I'm looking for a way to make WiFi settings inaccessible to regular users. For example, locks the WiFi settings with a password, so that an ordinary user cannot turn off the WiFi or log in to a ...
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151
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Why the screen lock password no longer matches after using a different disk as /data
I'm using a rooted Android 13 device, and an external SD-card that I mount as /data by editing the fstab. The SD-card is partitioned into few EXT4 partitions, and I can boot with any of them mounted ...
5
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569
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Why is Google's Play Store suddenly trying to update apps installed via F-Droid?
Historically, Google did not mess with Android apps installed via the open source F-Droid project.
Suddenly, however, Google's Play Store is now trying to update apps installed via F-Droid.
There are ...
2
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1
answer
236
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What's the best practice for Google recovery phone?
I have a question about Google account recovery phone. The succinct question is, is it best to have the Google recovery phone set to my single Android device or to use another mobile (non-Google) ...
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46
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Can a cancelled alarm still switch on the phone even when it's off?
After searching I know that some phones if you set up an alarm then you switch the phone off, it will open up exactly at the time you set it up to ring this is in case if the alarm is active before ...
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74
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Force enable encryption for portable SD card
There should be an option to encrypt SD card (formatted as portable) in the settings, but some manufacturers disable it while some (e.g. Samsung) have it enabled. If that is a built-in Android feature ...
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How to add extension Allow CORS in Android Tab Chrome browser [duplicate]
I need to open a website in mobile chrome browser. Its not opening there is CORS issue. I fixed that issue in Laptop added a extension Allow CORS in Chrome browser. When I tried in mobile there is no ...
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149
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Banking apps disabled in Android SDK emulator
Does the Android SDK emulator run apps with FLAG_SECURE used from Android 12? I have been trying to run different banking apps, which work but crash when I get to the login screen which is flagged ...
2
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95
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How to identify which app is creating user credentials in the security settings?
I was going through my Android device settings and found "rsa key" stored in user credentials. There, it says the "rsa key" is for VPN and apps. But I don't use any VPN.
How to ...
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37
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About Data safety section in Play store?
In the "Data safety" section of apps in Play Store, when it shows
Data collected: photos and videos
or
Data shared: photos and videos.
What does it mean? Or if some apps do not show it, ...
2
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0
answers
2k
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How does WhatsApp's View Once work? Does it take internal storage for showing the photos, or are they directly showing it from the server?
For WhatsApp's View Once photos, are the photos saved somewhere in the phone's internal storage? Or are they directly shown from WhatsApp's server? As WhatsApp claimed they are not stored in photos or ...
5
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257
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How to disable Unknown Tracker Alerts for specific trackers?
Android warns you of unknown trackers following you without their owners. EG Apple Airtags and Life360 Tiles. This can warn you if someone has planted a tracker on you or your property without your ...
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46
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I can not import IDs or restore my accounts from Microsoft Authenticator - How I can fix this?
Because of a problem I need to import IDs and I entered the 12 words recovery phrase as one long string but I always get error from jwt file say file is encrypted.
I tried also to use my main email ...
2
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2
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204
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Prevent play store from installing apps
The Google play store has a line in their TOS that gives them the right to install arbitrary apps/updates without consent of the user.
Sadly, some apps appear to require play store to be enabled to ...
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0
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161
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Android spyware detection
I installed an APK which my friend sent through a link through instagram and as soon as I donwloaded and installed it, it disappeared into the background
And she told me to unlock my oem before ...
5
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1
answer
927
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How can Phones such as Oppo be vulnerable to Privilege escalation exploits
Oppo (to my knowledge) makes it basically impossible to root, due to locking the boot loader and removing fast boot. So I'm wondering if this changes anything in regards to Privilege escalation ...
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0
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51
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How can I tell what has happened on my phone? Like a log
I'm looking to find out if there is a way to log activities on my phone, like something that tells you something was uploaded, downloaded, installed, SMS sent, number called, etc., anytime the phone ...
1
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0
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180
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How to get avc logging ( selinux ) in Android working?
I am on Android 10. Whether I setenforce 0 or 1- I cannot get avc ( aka SeLinux ) errors logged. I checked ramoops files also and its ditto.
root@m20lte:/ # setenforce 1 ...
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0
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57
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Android 12 froze, does this leak IP address with VPN killswitches enabled?
I have a VPN running with Android's 'always-on' VPN feature enabled, and the 'block connections without VPN' feature enabled. My device running Android 12 recently froze and wouldn't respond. I had to ...
2
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0
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62
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Unsual Firewall Traffic from Phone and Messaging Storage Group
I'm using Rethink DNS to monitor traffic.
I'm curious as to why the 'Phone and Messaging Storage' group would be reaching out to google domains in addition to app.hubspot.com.
Attached are the ...
4
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1
answer
119
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Remove devices from 2FA of Google sign in
I have 7 devices (mostly tablets and smartphones) where I am logged in with my Google account. However, 4 of those devices I usually take to shows/concerts and I am afraid of someone stealing them or ...
2
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0
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67
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Blocking specific app notifications access is cleared after app update
This behavior is consistent both on real Pixel devices running the latest version of Android 13 and on emulated devices running Android 13 in Android Studio.
A specific app, let’s call the app “X”, ...
18
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1
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Does Google still have the ability to uninstall apps without user permission (in 2023)?
In the past, Google has admitted that they have the ability to uninstall apps without user permission Exercising Our Remote Application Removal Feature
This post is almost 13 years old, Android was at ...
2
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0
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595
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How to determine if an Android device is compromised with a rootkit?
How would you go about checking your smartphone for root level malware, including rootkits, if you cannot get direct access to smartphone partitions?
There's news almost monthly how cheap Android ...
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0
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75
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Is Samsung's Facial Recognition secure on Galaxy A50?
Cheap Samsung phones have facial recognition functionality. The settings application states that if the "Faster recognition" option is enabled, "A video or image could be recognized as ...
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189
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PlayStore does not update APKMirror apps
I have an Android device where I have not assigned any Google account to it, just because I don't like/trust Google.
Since I cannot use the PlayStore to get apps without assigning an account (thanks ...
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118
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How do I restrict access to a Git folder on Android to only certain apps without a password check?
I want to secure a git folder on an Android device so that only specific apps do have access to its content of it. In the best case, there shouldn't even be a password check. I have sensitive data ...