How to Detect Malware Permissions in Android Apps

Last updated January 30, 2025 by Appdome

This Knowledge Base article describes how to use Appdome’s AI/ML in your CI/CD pipeline to continuously deliver plugins that Detect Malware Permissions in Android apps.

What are Malware Permissions?

Malware permissions refer to the system-level privileges that malicious software (malware) requests or exploits on a device to carry out harmful activities. These permissions can be requested during app installation or granted by exploiting vulnerabilities in the operating system or other apps.

Examples of common permissions abused by malware include:

  • Access to Device Storage: To exfiltrate sensitive files or inject malicious files.
  • Camera and Microphone Access: To spy on the user by recording video or audio.
  • Location Data: To track the user’s movements and activities.
  • Contacts and SMS: To steal personal data or distribute phishing messages.
  • Administrator Privileges: To prevent uninstallation or to perform advanced malicious actions.

How Does Appdome Protect Mobile Apps from Malware Permission Attacks?

Appdome’s dynamic Detect Malware Permissions plugin for Android monitors the presence of malware permission exploitation attacks during app runtime by detecting multiple potential threat signals. It analyzes abnormal behavior patterns, such as unauthorized access to sensitive permissions, suspicious permission requests from unknown apps or escalated privileges.

 

Prerequisites for Using Appdome's Detect Malware Permissions Plugins:

To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Detect Malware Permissions , you’ll need:

How to Implement Detect Malware Permissions in Android Apps Using Appdome

On Appdome, follow these simple steps to create self-defending Android Apps that Detect Malware Permissions without an SDK or gateway:

  1. Designate the Mobile App to be protected.

    1. Upload an app via the Appdome Mobile Defense platform GUI or via Appdome’s DEV-API or CI/CD Plugins.

    2. Android Formats: .apk or .aab
    3. Detect Malware Permissions is compatible with: Java, JS, C++, C#, Kotlin, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, Cordova and other Android apps.
  2. Select the defense: Detect Malware Permissions.

      1. Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the Detect Malware Permissions feature as shown below:
        fusion set that contains Detect Malware Permissions

        Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the Detect Malware Permissions feature

      2. Follow the steps in Sections 2.2-2.2.2 of this article to add the Detect Malware Permissions feature to your Fusion Set via the Appdome Console.

      3. When you enable Detect Banking Trojans > Detect Mobile Remote Access Trojan you'll notice that the Fusion Set you created in step 2.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains Detect Malware Permissions.

        Fusion Set applied Detect Malware Permissions

        Figure 2: Fusion Set that displays the newly added Detect Malware Permissions protection
        Note: Annotating the Fusion Set to identify the protection(s) selected is optional only (not mandatory).

      4. Open the Fusion Set Detail Summary by clicking the “...” symbol on the far-right corner of the Fusion Set. Copy the Fusion Set ID from the Fusion Set Detail Summary (as shown below): fusion Set Detail Summary image

        Figure 3: Fusion Set Detail Summary

      5. Follow the instructions below to use the Fusion Set ID inside any standard mobile DevOps or CI/CD toolkit like Bitrise, Jenkins, Travis, Team City, Circle CI or other system:
        1. Refer to the Appdome API Reference Guide for API building instructions.
        2. Look for sample APIs in Appdome’s GitHub Repository.
    1. Add the Detect Malware Permissions feature to your security template.

      1. Navigate to Build > Anti ATO tab > Android Trojans section in the Appdome Console.
      2. Toggle On Detect Banking Trojans > Detect Mobile Remote Access Trojan > Detect Malware Permissions.
        Note: The checkmark feature Detect Malware Permissions is enabled by default, as shown below. Detect Malware Permissions option

        Figure 4: Selecting Detect Malware Permissions

    2. Initiate the build command either by clicking Build My App at the bottom of the Build Workflow (shown in Figure 4) or via your CI/CD as described in Section 2.1.4.
    Congratulations!  The Detect Malware Permissions protection is now added to the mobile app
  3. Certify the Detect Malware Permissions feature in Android Apps

    After building Detect Malware Permissions, Appdome generates a Certified Secure™ certificate to guarantee that the Detect Malware Permissions protection has been added and is protecting the app. To verify that the Detect Malware Permissions protection has been added to the mobile app, locate the protection in the Certified Secure™ certificate as shown below: Detect Malware Permissions shown in Certificate secure

    Figure 5: Certified Secure™ certificate

    Each Certified Secure™ certificate provides DevOps and DevSecOps organizations the entire workflow summary, audit trail of each build, and proof of protection that Detect Malware Permissions has been added to each Android app. Certified Secure provides instant and in-line DevSecOps compliance certification that Detect Malware Permissions and other mobile app security features are in each build of the mobile app.

Using Threat-Events™ for Malware Permissions Intelligence and Control in Android Apps

Appdome Threat-Events™ provides consumable in-app mobile app attack intelligence and defense control when Malware Permissions is detected. To consume and use Threat-Events™ for Malware Permissions in Android Apps, use registerReceiver in the Application OnCreate, and the code samples for Threat-Events™ for Malware Permissions shown below.

The specifications and options for Threat-Events™ for Malware Permissions are:

Threat-Event™ Elements Detect Malware Permissions Method Detail
Appdome Feature Name Detect Malware Permissions
Threat-Event Mode
OFF, IN-APP DEFENSE Appdome detects, defends and notifies user (standard OS dialog) using customizable messaging.
ON, IN-APP DETECTION Appdome detects the attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (app chooses how and when to enforce).
ON, IN-APP DEFENSE Uses Appdome Enforce mode for any attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (gather intel on attacks and threats without losing any protection).
Certified Secure™ Threat Event Check x
Visible in ThreatScope™ x
Developer Parameters for Detecting Malware Permissions Threat-Event™
Threat-Event NAME
Threat-Event DATA reasonData
Threat-Event CODE reasonCode
Threat-Event REF
Threat-Event SCORE
currentThreatEventScore Current Threat-Event score
threatEventsScore Total Threat-events score
Threat-Event Context Keys
message Message displayed for the user on event
failSafeEnforce Timed enforcement against the identified threat
externalID The external ID of the event which can be listened via Threat Events
osVersion OS version of the current device
deviceModel Current device model
deviceManufacturer The manufacturer of the current device
fusedAppToken The task ID of the Appdome fusion of the currently running app
kernelInfo Info about the kernel: system name, node name, release, version and machine.
carrierPlmn PLMN of the device. Only available for Android devices.
deviceID Current device ID
reasonCode Reason code of the occurred event
buildDate Appdome fusion date of the current application
devicePlatform OS name of the current device
carrierName Carrier name of the current device. Only available for Android.
updatedOSVersion Is the OS version up to date
deviceBrand Brand of the device
deviceBoard Board of the device
buildUser Build user
buildHost Build host
sdkVersion Sdk version
timeZone Time zone
deviceFaceDown Is the device face down
locationLong Location longitude conditioned by location permission
locationLat Location latitude conditioned by location permission
locationState Location state conditioned by location permission
wifiSsid Wifi SSID
wifiSsidPermissionStatus Wifi SSID permission status
threatCode The last six characters of the threat code specify the OS, allowing the Threat Resolution Center to address the attack on the affected device.

With Threat-Events™ enabled (turned ON), Android developers can get detailed attack intelligence and granular defense control in Android applications and create amazing user experiences for all mobile end users when Malware Permissions is detected.


The following is a code sample for native Android apps, which uses all values in the specification above for Detect Malware Permissions:


Important! Replace all placeholder instances of <Context Key> with the specific name of your threat event context key across all language examples. This is crucial to ensure your code functions correctly with the intended event data. For example, The <Context Key> could be the message, externalID, OS Version, reason code, etc.



Using Appdome, there are no development or coding prerequisites to build secured Apps by using Detect Malware Permissions. There is no SDK and no library to code or implement in the app and no gateway to deploy in your network. All protections are built into each app and the resulting app is self-defending and self-protecting.

Releasing and Publishing Mobile Apps with Detect Malware Permissions

After successfully securing your app by using Appdome, there are several available options to complete your project, depending on your app lifecycle or workflow. These include:

Related Articles:

How to Detect SpyNote Trojan in Android Apps

How to Detect Mobile Remote Access Trojan in Android Apps

How to Detect Accessibility Service Malware on Android Apps

How Do I Learn More?

If you have any questions, please send them our way at support.appdome.com or via the chat window on the Appdome platform.

Thank you!

Thanks for visiting Appdome! Our mission is to secure every app on the planet by making mobile app security easy. We hope we’re living up to the mission with your project.

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