In the past I read a thread from someone claiming that he had
Appbrain App Market installed on his phone which is a Non-Root app the last time I checked, Well anyways he said that he was Receiving Popups from the app to Grant it Superuser Permissions.
I really Didn't think much about it until now when I Received a Popup of my own, After I Installed whatever Stupid Basketball 3D game from the Market myself...
I checked and it Wasn't a Root app, and it Didn't even show up in the Superuser app Log, even though I Didn't Grant it Permission. I just UnInstalled it as soon as I saw the Popup!
So my Question is...
What the Hells up with that? Is that some type of Virus app or some ****?
Thanx in Advance!
PMGRANDS said:
In the past I read a thread from someone claiming that he had
Appbrain App Market installed on his phone which is a Non-Root app the last time I checked, Well anyways he said that he was Receiving Popups from the app to Grant it Superuser Permissions.
I really Didn't think much about it until now when I Received a Popup of my own, After I Installed whatever Stupid Basketball 3D game from the Market myself...
I checked and it Wasn't a Root app, and it Didn't even show up in the Superuser app Log, even though I Didn't Grant it Permission. I just UnInstalled it as soon as I saw the Popup!
So my Question is...
What the Hells up with that? Is that some type of Virus app or some ****?
Thanx in Advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'm not familiar with random apps from the market asking for superuser permission but i am familiar with the superuser app and how the permission structure/process works.
essentially, the superuser.apk file replaces your /system/bin/su binary with its own binary. the superuser custom binary, whenever any user or application executes a command using the su binary (executing a command as root) the superuser su binary redirects to the superuser application then prompting the user to accept or deny the request.
i know i have seen it is possible to spoof these requests, but it was done by a very knowledgable friend and i don't think the spoofing of superuser requests is common place or well known (might have been patched recently too).
without knowing the application's source code that requested superuser access, i personally would not trust the application unless the application stated it would need root access and performed functions which required root access. example, if the application were a game, i don't see any reason it would need superuser access.
once an application has been granted superuser access on an s-off evo 3d, it essentially has write/read access to the majority of the android partitions including the kernel, system, data, cache, etc.
from what you've described, i think you're correct in not granting an unknown application superuser access. as a developer with applications in the market, i would appreciate an email from a user who experienced such a situation and a screenshot attached would be even more helpful. might be worthwhile reaching out to the developer to confirm or ask them to explain.
thanks for posting this information. always good to know. hope some of the information i provided helps!
joeykrim said:
i'm not familiar with random apps from the market asking for superuser permission but i am familiar with the superuser app and how the permission structure/process works.
essentially, the superuser.apk file replaces your /system/bin/su binary with its own binary. the superuser custom binary, whenever any user or application executes a command using the su binary (executing a command as root) the superuser su binary redirects to the superuser application then prompting the user to accept or deny the request.
i know i have seen it is possible to spoof these requests, but it was done by a very knowledgable friend and i don't think the spoofing of superuser requests is common place or well known (might have been patched recently too).
without knowing the application's source code that requested superuser access, i personally would not trust the application unless the application stated it would need root access and performed functions which required root access. example, if the application were a game, i don't see any reason it would need superuser access.
once an application has been granted superuser access on an s-off evo 3d, it essentially has write/read access to the majority of the android partitions including the kernel, system, data, cache, etc.
from what you've described, i think you're correct in not granting an unknown application superuser access. as a developer with applications in the market, i would appreciate an email from a user who experienced such a situation and a screenshot attached would be even more helpful. might be worthwhile reaching out to the developer to confirm or ask them to explain.
thanks for posting this information. always good to know. hope some of the information i provided helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah man I Never really Experienced a App Requesting Superuser Permission, that Wasn't even a Root App... Just Didn't seem right to me either... A Game Shouldn't need Root Access!!
Thanx for your Reply!
I recently had the same op-ups from Tasker. But since I had been using Tasker even before rooting, I denied the request.
Are there any more precautions we need to take with regards to this.
odyssseus said:
I recently had the same op-ups from Tasker. But since I had been using Tasker even before rooting, I denied the request.
Are there any more precautions we need to take with regards to this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great question. If anybody else has experience/knowledge feel free to chime in.
Regarding precautions, there are a few basic steps which I think we're all fairly familiar with as being general computer precautions. These are a few which come to mind:
1) Don't load software you don't trust.
2) Always thorougly check the permissions being granted to an application. Example, once you grant an application permission to load at startup, it now has the potential to always be running in the background. Potential bad situation: the application *could* be gathering user/system data and if it has network access, sending this data back.
3) Superuser provides a great basic level of security to protect root access. Without superuser, any application can execute the su binary now running with root priviledges and there will be no required notification to the end user. This could all happen in the background w/o a log, audit trail or notification to the user. Root priviledges, as I mentioned above on an S-OFF EVO 3D will give write access to /system, /data, boot (kernel), recovery, etc. This is potentially very dangerous and important to protect the su binary.
Important to realize, once an application has been granted superuser access, it has the potential to destroy the device or grab extensive system/personal information and send it out. This makes it essential to trust the application.
As with any type of security, there are always ways to bypass. Essentially, these three steps should help avoid the majority of issues.
On a brighter note, there really aren't many Android viruses or malicious applications in circulation. For the most part, people who post on XDA and android application developers/posters in the market have are trustworthy. The comments on Market applications are usually fairly helpful. Might be worth skimming thru a page or 2, maybe 3 or 4 of market comments on a suspicious application or emailing the developer.
I know as a developer I'm more than happy to explain any function or question regarding my applications, especially if it raises a security/privacy concern to a user.
Hope that helps round out some simple precautions!
Hi guys,
Just want to ask how to view the permissions of apps installed but with no permissions shown(even "This app does not require permission.)
Does this present problems for security?
if it doesn't require any permissions then it won't have anything to show.
Hi,
is there an app that lists all installed apps by permission? That way I could list all apps that automatically start at boot... Or those that like to read contact data...
Permissions Denied looks like you need (you will need root access).
If you're looking for an app that will just list and sort the permissions for all your apps try Permission Explorer:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.carlocriniti.android.permission_explorer
i found this: permission explorer and the lbe app that requires root but blocks some permissions
When I installed Google Reader on my phone for the first time I saw two following access requests and I accepted them:
Access Request to
"Google Reader":http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/827/scr1jt.png/
Access Request to
"contacts data in Google accounts"
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/822/scr2d.png/
OK, I can uninstall this application but when I install it again I will never see "Access Requests".The application has already granted access forever and this is the problem.
My question is how can I remove access for this application?
I suppose you could try using a root fille explorer, browsing to the apk file that's causing the problems, then edit permissions and remove all permissions. Hopefully this solves your problems
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
The Marshmallow app permission system is starting to get obnoxious. From granting obvious permissions (camera needs to use camera) to "screen overlay detected" every time an app wants access to something I would have happily granted it access to on install, I have had enough of this.
Is there no way to simply grant the permissions on install like before? I assume it would require root, which I already have, surely there is a way to simply "grant all" when I install an app.