How to Detect Hooking Frameworks in iOS Apps Using AI
This Knowledge Base article describes how to use Appdome’s AI in your CI/CD pipeline to continuously deliver plugins that Detect Hooking Frameworks in iOS apps.
What Are Hooking Frameworks?
Hooking frameworks allow attackers to intercept and redirect function calls at runtime, enabling unauthorized manipulation of mobile app logic without altering the original code. Popular iOS frameworks—such as Frida, DobbyHook, CaptainHook, Cydia Substrate, and Substitute—work by patching function entry points and injecting custom handlers into iOS processes. Attackers use them to bypass security features, extract sensitive data, and execute arbitrary payloads in memory. For example, a malicious actor might install a hook on sensitive API calls like SecKeyCreateDecryptedData to capture plaintext keys or intercept authentication checks before they reach the OS. Because the app’s external behavior appears unchanged, such runtime tampering is extremely difficult to detect from within the app. These frameworks also support dynamic injection and can evade defenses by adapting in real time. As such, defending against hooking is critical for compliance with mobile security mandates like GDPR, PSD2, and NIST 800-124.
How Appdome Protects Mobile Apps Against Hooking Frameworks
Appdome’s dynamic Detect Hooking Frameworks plugin identifies and stops attempts to hook or redirect app function calls at runtime. It detects frameworks like Frida, Xposed, DobbyHook, SandHook, and ByteHook by monitoring for memory patching, API interception, and anomalies in function pointer resolution. This ensures function-level integrity even during runtime manipulation. Mobile developers can use Appdome’s Threat-Events™ to gather data on hooking attempts and create customized user experiences when threats are detected.
Prerequisites for Using Appdome's Detect Hooking Frameworks Plugins:
To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Detect Hooking Frameworks , you’ll need:
- Appdome account (create a free Appdome account here)
- A license for Detect Hooking Frameworks
- Mobile App (.ipa for iOS)
- Signing Credentials (see Signing Secure Android apps and Signing Secure iOS apps)
How to Implement Detect Hooking Frameworks in iOS Apps Using Appdome
On Appdome, follow these 3 simple steps to create self-defending iOS Apps that Detect Hooking Frameworks without an SDK or gateway:
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Designate the Mobile App to be protected.
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Upload an app via the Appdome Mobile Defense platform GUI or via Appdome’s DEV-API or CI/CD Plugins.
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iOS Formats: .ipa
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Detect Hooking Frameworks is compatible with: Obj-C, Java, Swift, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, Cordova and other iOS apps.
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Select the defense: Detect Hooking Frameworks.
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Follow the steps in Sections 2.2-2.2.2 of this article to add the Detect Hooking Frameworks feature to your Fusion Set via the Appdome Console.
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When you enable you'll notice that the Fusion Set you created in step 2.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains Detect Hooking Frameworks.
Figure 2: Fusion Set that displays the newly added Detect Hooking Frameworks protection
Note: Annotating the Fusion Set to identify the protection(s) selected is optional only (not mandatory). -
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):
Figure 3: Fusion Set Detail Summary
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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:
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Refer to the Appdome API Reference Guide for API building instructions.
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Look for sample APIs in Appdome’s GitHub Repository.
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Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the Detect Hooking Frameworks feature as shown below:
Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the Detect Hooking Frameworks feature
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Add the Detect Hooking Frameworks feature to your security template.
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Navigate to Build > Anti Malware tab > iOS Hacking Tool section in the Appdome Console.
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Toggle On > Detect Hooking Frameworks.
(a) Choose to monitor this attack vector by checking the Threat Events checkbox associated with Detect Hooking Frameworks as shown below.
(b) To receive mobile Threat Monitoring, check the ThreatScope™ box as shown below. For more details, see our knowledge base article on ThreatScope™ Mobile XTM.
Figure 4: Selecting Detect Hooking Frameworks
Note: The Appdome Platform displays the Mobile Operation Systems supported by each defense in real-time. For more details, see our OS Support Policy KB. -
Select the Threat-Event™ in-app mobile Threat Defense and Intelligence policy for Detect Hooking Frameworks:
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Threat-Events™ OFF > In-App Defense
If the Threat-Events™ setting is not selected. Appdome will detect and defend user and app by enforcing Detect Hooking Frameworks.
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Threat-Events™ ON > In-App Detection
When this setting is used, Appdome detects hooking frameworks and passes Appdome’s Threat-Event™ attack intelligence to the app’s business logic for processing, enforcement, and user notification. For more information on consuming and using Appdome Threat-Events™ in the app, see section Using Threat-Events™ for Detect Hooking Frameworks Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps.
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Threat-Events™ ON > In-App Defense
When this setting is used, Appdome detects and defends against Hooking Frameworks (same as Appdome Enforce) and passes Appdome’s Threat-Event™ attack intelligence to the app’s business logic for processing. For more information on consuming and using Appdome Threat-Events™ in the app, see section Using Threat-Events™ for Detect Hooking Frameworks Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps.
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Configure the User Experience Options for Detect Hooking Frameworks:
With Threat-Events™ OFF, Appdome provides several user experience options for mobile brands and developers.- App Compromise Notification: Customize the pop-up or toast Appdome uses to notify the user when a threat is present while using the protected mobile app.
- Short message Option. This is available for mobile devices that allow a banner notification for security events.
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Localized Message Option. Allows Appdome users to support global languages in security notifications.
Figure 5: Default User Experience Options for Appdome’s Hooking Frameworks
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Detect Hooking Frameworks Threat Code™. Appdome uses AI to generate a unique code each time Detect Hooking Frameworks is triggered by an active threat on the mobile device. Use the code in Appdome Threat Resolution Center™ to help end users identify, find and resolve active threats on the personal mobile devices.
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Congratulations! The Detect Hooking Frameworks protection is now added to the mobile app -
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Certify the Detect Hooking Frameworks feature in iOS Apps
After building Detect Hooking Frameworks, Appdome generates a Certified Secure™ certificate to guarantee that the Detect Hooking Frameworks protection has been added and is protecting the app. To verify that the Detect Hooking Frameworks protection has been added to the mobile app, locate the protection in the Certified Secure™ certificate as shown below:
Figure 6: 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 Hooking Frameworks has been added to each iOS app. Certified Secure provides instant and in-line DevSecOps compliance certification that Detect Hooking Frameworks and other mobile app security features are in each build of the mobile app.
Using Threat-Events™ for Hooking Frameworks Intelligence and Control in iOS Apps
Appdome Threat-Events™ provides consumable in-app mobile app attack intelligence and defense control when Hooking Frameworks are detected. To consume and use Threat-Events™ for Hooking Frameworks in iOS Apps, use AddObserverForName in Notification Center, and the code samples for Threat-Events™ for Hooking Frameworks shown below.
The specifications and options for Threat-Events™ for Hooking Frameworks are:
| Threat-Event™ Elements | Detect Hooking Frameworks Method Detail |
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| Appdome Feature Name | Detect Hooking Frameworks |
| 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 | |
| Visible in ThreatScope™ | |
| Developer Parameters for Detecting Hooking Frameworks Threat-Event™ | |
| Threat-Event NAME | HookFrameworkDetected |
| Threat-Event DATA | reasonData |
| Threat-Event CODE | reasonCode |
| Threat-Event REF | 6942 |
| Threat-Event SCORE | |
| currentThreatEventScore | Current Threat-Event score |
| threatEventsScore | Total Threat-events score |
| Threat-Event Context Keys | |
|---|---|
| Timestamp | The exact time the threat event was triggered, recorded in milliseconds since epoch |
| message | Message displayed for the user on event |
| 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. |
| deviceID | Current device ID |
| reasonCode | Reason code of the occurred event |
| 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), iOS developers can get detailed attack intelligence and granular defense control in iOS applications and create amazing user experiences for all mobile end users when Hooking Frameworks are detected.
The following is a code sample for native iOS apps, which uses all values in the specification above for Detect Hooking Frameworks:
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.
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let center = NotificationCenter.defaultcenter.addObserver(forName: Notification.Name("HookFrameworkDetected"), object: nil, queue: nil) { (note) in guard let usrInf = note.userInfo else { return } let message = usrInf["message"]; // Message shown to the user let reasonData = usrInf["reasonData"]; // Threat detection cause let reasonCode = usrInf["reasonCode"]; // Event reason code // Current threat event score let currentThreatEventScore = usrInf["currentThreatEventScore"]; // Total threat events score let threatEventsScore = usrInf["threatEventsScore"]; // Replace '<Context Key>' with your specific event context key // let variable = usrInf["<Context Key>"]; // Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)}xxxxxxxxxx[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserverForName: @"HookFrameworkDetected" object:nil queue:nil usingBlock:^(NSNotification *org_note) { __block NSNotification *note = org_note; dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^(void) { // Message shown to the user NSString *message = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"message"]; // Threat detection cause NSString *reasonData = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"reasonData"]; // Event reason code NSString *reasonCode = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"reasonCode"]; // Current threat event score NSString *currentThreatEventScore = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"currentThreatEventScore"]; // Total threat events score NSString *threatEventsScore = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"threatEventsScore"]; // Replace '<Context Key>' with your specific event context key // NSString *variable = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"<Context Key>"]; // Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...) });}];xxxxxxxxxxconst { ADDevEvents } = NativeModules;const aDDevEvents = new NativeEventEmitter(ADDevEvents);function registerToDevEvent(action, callback) { NativeModules.ADDevEvents.registerForDevEvent(action); aDDevEvents.addListener(action, callback);}export function registerToAllEvents() { registerToDevEvent( "HookFrameworkDetected", (userinfo) => Alert.alert(JSON.stringify(userinfo)) var message = userinfo["message"] // Message shown to the user var reasonData = userinfo["reasonData"] // Threat detection cause var reasonCode = userinfo["reasonCode"] // Event reason code // Current threat event score var currentThreatEventScore = userinfo["currentThreatEventScore"] // Total threat events score var threatEventsScore = userinfo["threatEventsScore"] // Replace '<Context Key>' with your specific event context key // var variable = userinfo["<Context Key>"] // Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...) );}x
RegisterReceiver(new ThreatEventReceiver(), new IntentFilter("HookFrameworkDetected")); class ThreatEventReceiver : BroadcastReceiver{ public override void OnReceive(Context context, Intent intent) { // Message shown to the user String message = intent.GetStringExtra("message"); // Threat detection cause String reasonData = intent.GetStringExtra("reasonData"); // Event reason code String reasonCode = intent.GetStringExtra("reasonCode"); // Current threat event score String currentThreatEventScore = intent.GetStringExtra("currentThreatEventScore"); // Total threat events score String threatEventsScore = intent.GetStringExtra("threatEventsScore"); // Replace '<Context Key>' with your specific event context key // String variable = intent.GetStringExtra("<Context Key>"); // Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...) }}x
NSNotificationCenter.DefaultCenter.AddObserver( (NSString)"HookFrameworkDetected", // Threat-Event Identifier delegate (NSNotification notification) { // Message shown to the user var message = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("message"); // Threat detection cause var reasonData = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("reasonData"); // Event reason code var reasonCode = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("reasonCode"); // Current threat event score var currentThreatEventScore = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("currentThreatEventScore"); // Total threat events score var threatEventsScore = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("threatEventsScore"); // Replace '<Context Key>' with your specific event context key // var variable = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("<Context Keys>"); // Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...) });xxxxxxxxxxwindow.broadcaster.addEventListener("HookFrameworkDetected", function(userInfo) { var message = userInfo.message // Message shown to the user var reasonData = userInfo.reasonData // Threat detection cause var reasonCode = userInfo.reasonCode // Event reason code // Current threat event score var currentThreatEventScore = userInfo.currentThreatEventScore // Total threat events score var threatEventsScore = userInfo.threatEventsScore // Replace '<Context Key>' with your specific event context key // var variable = userInfo.<Context Keys> // Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)});x
import 'dart:async';import 'package:flutter/material.dart';import 'package:flutter/services.dart';class PlatformChannel extends StatefulWidget { const PlatformChannel({super.key}); State<PlatformChannel> createState() => _PlatformChannelState();}class _PlatformChannelState extends State<PlatformChannel> { // Replace with your EventChannel name static const String _eventChannelName = "HookFrameworkDetected"; static const EventChannel _eventChannel = EventChannel(_eventChannelName); void initState() { super.initState(); _eventChannel.receiveBroadcastStream().listen(_onEvent, onError: _onError); } void _onEvent(Object? event) { setState(() { // Adapt this section based on your specific event data structure var eventData = event as Map; // Example: Accessing 'externalID' field from the event var externalID = eventData['externalID']; // Customize the rest of the fields based on your event structure String message = eventData['message']; // Message shown to the user String reasonData = eventData['reasonData']; // Threat detection cause String reasonCode = eventData['reasonCode']; // Event reason code // Current threat event score String currentThreatEventScore = eventData['currentThreatEventScore']; // Total threat events score String threatEventsScore = eventData['threatEventsScore']; // Replace '<Context Key>' with your specific event context key // String variable = eventData['<Context Keys>']; }); } // Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)}Using Appdome, there are no development or coding prerequisites to build secured iOS Apps by using Detect Hooking Frameworks. 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 Hooking Frameworks
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:
- Customizing, Configuring & Branding Secure Mobile Apps.
- Deploying/Publishing Secure mobile apps to Public or Private app stores.
- Releasing Secured Android & iOS Apps built on Appdome.
Related Articles:
- How to Block Memory Editing tools for Android & iOS apps
- How to Prevent Code Injection & Process Injection in Mobile Apps
- How to Prevent Fake iOS Apps using Signature Validation
- How to Optimize File Size, Code Obfuscation Best Practices in Android & iOS Apps
- How to Use Runtime Bundle Validation to Prevent Dynamic Modding in Android & iOS 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!
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