Android Intent Security

This skill provides guidelines and patterns to secure Android components (Activities, Services, Broadcast Receivers, Content Providers) and handle Intents safely, preventing privilege escalation and unauthorized access.

Glossary

• Intent: An asynchronous messaging object used to request an action from another app component.
• Exported component: A component (android:exported="true") that can be launched by other apps on the device.
• Sticky intent: A broadcast intent that remains in the system cache after it's sent, allowing any app to retrieve its contents.
• Signature permission: A permission whose protection level is set to signature, granted only to apps signed with the same developer key.
• onNewIntent: An activity lifecycle callback invoked when an activity is launched with FLAG_ACTIVITY_SINGLE_TOP and is already running at the top of the history stack.
• PendingIntent: A token granted to a foreign application (for example, system services) allowing it to execute a predefined Intent with the creator's permissions.
• Mutable PendingIntent: A PendingIntent whose underlying Intent parameters can be modified by the receiving application.
• ContentProvider: A component that encapsulates data and provides it to other applications via standard query/insert interfaces.
• IntentSanitizer: A utility class in AndroidX Core used to build a safe, sanitized copy of an incoming Intent by filtering out unauthorized components, actions, or extras.
• Intent redirection (forwarding): A vulnerability where an application receives an intent from an untrusted source and uses it to launch a private, non-exported component.

Prerequisites

• The agent MUST be able to describe the function and security implications of onCreate, onNewIntent, and the singleTop launch mode.
• The agent MUST be able to declare <activity>, <service>, <receiver>, and <provider> tags in AndroidManifest.xml and define their android:exported and android:permission attributes.
• The agent MUST be able to implement signature verification checks using PackageManager.

Limitations

• This skill focuses on local inter-component and inter-app communication security on the Android platform.
• This skill doesn't cover network security, web integration, or host-to-server security.

Setup and dependencies

• Android SDK: Minimum API Level 23 (Android 6.0) is required for standard hardware-backed keystore operations and component validation.
• AndroidX Core Library: androidx.core:core:1.9.0 or higher is mandatory to leverage IntentSanitizer.
• Standard API access: Standard Android PackageManager APIs are required for runtime component verification.

Intent security logic and decisions

1. Intent routing comparison

Evaluate the security features of different intent delivery methods:

2. PendingIntent mutability flag options

Evaluate the security implications of PendingIntent mutability flags:

3. Intent handling and redirection logic

IF (the component receives a nested Intent as an extra) { IF (AndroidX Core 1.9.0+ and higher is available) { MUST construct an IntentSanitizer to explicitly allowlist components, actions, data, and extras. MUST call sanitizeByThrowing() or sanitizeByFiltering() before launching. } ELSE { MUST verify that the nested Intent's target package matches the current application package. MUST verify that the target component of the nested Intent is publicly exported. } NEVER launch the nested Intent directly without validation. } ELSE IF (the component handles broadcasts) { MUST rely on the system's Protected Broadcast mechanism for system events (which guarantees the sender is the system framework). MUST protect custom receivers with signature-level permissions or use RECEIVER_NOT_EXPORTED for dynamic receivers to restrict the sender. }

4. PendingIntent security logic

IF (a PendingIntent is created for delivery to another application) { MUST use PendingIntent.FLAG_IMMUTABLE by default. IF (the PendingIntent must be mutable) { MUST set the explicit target component or package name on the base Intent. NEVER create an implicit, mutable PendingIntent. } }

5. ContentProvider security logic

IF (the ContentProvider is only for internal app use) { MUST set android:exported="false". } ELSE { MUST protect it with android:readPermission and android:writePermission. MUST set android:grantUriPermissions="false" unless temporary URL access is strictly required. }

6. Service caller verification logic

IF (an exported service communicates with trusted sister/partner apps) { MUST retrieve the calling UID using Binder.getCallingUid() and resolve it to package names using PackageManager.getPackagesForUid(). MUST verify that the calling package signature fingerprint matches your trusted certificate hash. }

Code and configuration patterns

1. Safe intent redirection (manual verification)

Validate the target of a nested intent before launching it when modern sanitization libraries are unavailable.

• Expected Inputs:
  • An incoming Intent containing a nested Intent extra named EXTRA_NESTED_INTENT.
• Expected Outputs:
  • Launches the target component if safe; throws SecurityException if validation fails.

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fun safeIntentRedirectionManual() {
    val nestedIntent = IntentCompat.getParcelableExtra(intent, "EXTRA_NESTED_INTENT", Intent::class.java)
    if (nestedIntent != null) {
        // 1. Check for URI permission grants to prevent URI permission bypass
        val hasUriPermissionGrants = (
            nestedIntent.flags and (
                Intent.FLAG_GRANT_READ_URI_PERMISSION or
                    Intent.FLAG_GRANT_WRITE_URI_PERMISSION or
                    Intent.FLAG_GRANT_PERSISTABLE_URI_PERMISSION or
                    Intent.FLAG_GRANT_PREFIX_URI_PERMISSION
                )
            ) != 0
        if (hasUriPermissionGrants) {
            throw SecurityException("Nested intent contains forbidden URI permission grant flags!")
        }

        val pm = packageManager
        val target = nestedIntent.resolveActivity(pm)
        if (target != null) {
            // 2. Verify target is within the same package
            if (target.packageName != packageName) {
                throw SecurityException("Cross-app intent redirection is forbidden!")
            }
            try {
                // 3. Verify target activity is exported
                val info = pm.getActivityInfo(target, 0)
                if (!info.exported) {
                    throw SecurityException("Target activity is private: ${target.className}")
                }
                // 4. Explicitly set the component to prevent intent interception
                nestedIntent.component = target
                // Safe to launch
                startActivity(nestedIntent)
            } catch (e: PackageManager.NameNotFoundException) {
                Log.e("Security", "Failed to resolve target activity", e)
            }
        }
    }
}
   

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2. Safe intent redirection using IntentSanitizer

Filter or reject dynamic intents using AndroidX IntentSanitizer (AndroidX Core 1.9.0+).

• Expected Inputs:
  • An untrusted incoming Intent.
• Expected Outputs:
  • Intent: A sanitized copy containing only allowlisted components, categories, and actions. Throws SecurityException on violations if using sanitizeByThrowing().

<br />

fun safeIntentRedirectionSanitizer() {
    val untrustedIntent = IntentCompat.getParcelableExtra(intent, "EXTRA_NESTED_INTENT", Intent::class.java)
    if (untrustedIntent != null) {
        // Define the strict boundaries for allowed redirection target
        val sanitizer = IntentSanitizer.Builder()
            .allowComponent(ComponentName("com.example.app", "com.example.app.SafeTargetActivity")) // Explicitly allowed target
            .allowAction(Intent.ACTION_VIEW) // Explicitly allowed actions
            .allowDataWithAuthority("com.example.app.provider") // Allowed URI authority
            .allowType("text/plain") // Allowed mime type
            .allowExtra("user_display_name", String::class.java) // Safe type-enforced extras
            // Note: URI permission flags are NOT allowed, so the sanitizer will automatically strip or throw on them
            .build()

        try {
            // Option A: Throws SecurityException if the intent violates policies
            val safeIntent = sanitizer.sanitizeByThrowing(untrustedIntent)
            startActivity(safeIntent)
        } catch (e: SecurityException) {
            Log.e("SECURITY_ALERT", "Attempted launch of non-allowlisted intent blocked", e)
        }

        // Option B: Silently filter and launch only the authorized parts (no exception thrown)
        // val filteredIntent = sanitizer.sanitizeByFiltering(untrustedIntent)
        // startActivity(filteredIntent)
    }
}
   

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3. Custom signature permission protection

Declare a custom signature-level permission in the manifest to secure family app communication.

• Expected Inputs: Manifest configuration.
• Expected Outputs: An activity that can only be launched by apps signed with the same developer certificate.

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<permission
    android:name="com.example.snippets.permission.INTERNAL_COMMUNICATION"
    android:protectionLevel="signature" />
   

<br />

<br />

<activity
    android:name=".intents.InternalSharingActivity"
    android:exported="true"
    android:permission="com.example.snippets.permission.INTERNAL_COMMUNICATION">
    <intent-filter>
        <action android:name="com.example.snippets.ACTION_SHARE" />
        <category android:name="android.intent.category.DEFAULT" />
    </intent-filter>
</activity>
   

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4. Safe onNewIntent lifecycle verification (warm boot protection)

Ensure that activities reusing dynamic intents (for example, in background launch paths) apply the same strict security filters inside onNewIntent.

• Expected Inputs:
  • newIntent (Intent): The newly delivered intent.
• Expected Outputs:
  • Executes processing logic only if the new intent passes security validation.

<br />

override fun onNewIntent(newIntent: Intent) {
    super.onNewIntent(newIntent)

    // Set the intent to ensure intent returns the new one
    intent = newIntent

    // Validate the intent payload
    if (validateIntent(newIntent)) {
        processIntentPayload(newIntent)
    } else {
        Log.w("SECURITY_ALERT", "Received invalid or insecure intent during warm boot")
    }
}

private fun validateIntent(intent: Intent): Boolean {
    return intent.hasExtra("VALID_PAYLOAD_MARKER")
}
   

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