How to Detect Debugger Code Manipulations in Android & iOS Apps

Last updated May 26, 2024 by Appdome

Learn to Detect Debugger Code Manipulations in Mobile apps, in mobile CI/CD with a Data-Driven DevSecOps™ build system.

What are Debugger Code Manipulations?

Runtime Code manipulation (also known as Debugger Code Manipulations) is a hacking technique involving executing or changing existing classes and methods of your application while the application is running.

Why Detect Debugger Code Manipulations in Mobile Apps?

Here’s why you would want to Block Runtime Code Manipulations in Android & iOS Apps

IOS: The dynamic traits of Objective-C allow you to change methods, handle or redirect messages by overwriting specific methods, and add/set/remove properties and Ivars of a class, thereby making it fragile to misuse.

Android: Android allows you to load classes from a .apk file containing classes.dex entry, which can be used to execute code not installed as part of your application.

Prerequisites for Using Detect Debugger Code Manipulations:

To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Detect Debugger Code Manipulations , you’ll need:

Detect Debugger Code Manipulations on Mobile apps using Appdome

On Appdome, follow these 3 simple steps to create self-defending Mobile Apps that Detect Debugger Code Manipulations without an SDK or gateway:

  1. Upload the Mobile App to Appdome.

    1. Upload an app to Appdome’s Mobile App Security Build System

    2. Upload Method: Appdome Console or DEV-API
    3. Mobile App Formats: .ipa for iOS, or .apk or .aab for Android
    4. Detect Debugger Code Manipulations Compatible With: Obj-C, Java, JS, C#, C++, Swift, Kotlin, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, and more
  2. Build the feature: Detect Debugger Code Manipulations.

    1. Building Detect Debugger Code Manipulations by using Appdome’s DEV-API:

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

        Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the Detect Debugger Code Manipulations feature
        Note: Naming the Fusion Set to correspond to the protection(s) selected is for illustration purposes only (not required).

      3. Follow the steps in Sections 2.2.1-2.2.2 of this article, Building the Detect Debugger Code Manipulations feature via Appdome Console, to add the Detect Debugger Code Manipulations feature to this Fusion Set.

      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 2: Fusion Set Detail Summary
        Note: Annotating the Fusion Set to identify the protection(s) selected is optional only (not mandatory).

      5. Follow the instructions below to use the Fusion Set ID inside any standard mobile DevOps or CI/CD toolkit like Bitrise, App Center, Jenkins, Travis, Team City, Circle CI or other system:
        1. Build an API for the app – for instructions, see the tasks under Appdome API Reference Guide
        2. Look for sample APIs in Appdome’s GitHub Repository
    2. Building the Detect Debugger Code Manipulations feature via Appdome Console

      To build the Detect Debugger Code Manipulations protection by using Appdome Console, follow the instructions below.

      1. Where: Inside the Appdome Console, go to Build > Security Tab > ONEShield™ section.
      2. How: Check whether is toggled On (enabled), otherwise enable it . The feature Detect Debugger Code Manipulations is enabled by default, as shown below. Toggle (turn ON) Detect Debugger Code Manipulations, as shown below.
        If needed, Customize the Threat Notification to be displayed to the mobile end-user in a standard OS dialog notification when Appdome Detects Debugger Code Manipulations.
        Detect Debugger Code Manipulations option

        Figure 3: Detect Debugger Code Manipulations option
        Note: The App Compromise Notification contains an easy to follow default remediation path for the mobile app end user. You can customize this message as required to achieve brand specific support, workflow or other messaging.

      3. When you select the Detect Debugger Code Manipulations you'll notice that your Fusion Set you created in step 2.1.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains Detect Debugger Code Manipulations

        Fusion Set applied Detect Debugger Code Manipulations

        Figure 4: Fusion Set that displays the newly added Detect Debugger Code Manipulations protection

      4. Click Build My App at the bottom of the Build Workflow (shown in Figure 3).
    Congratulations!  The Detect Debugger Code Manipulations protection is now added to the mobile app
  3. Certify the Detect Debugger Code Manipulations feature in Mobile Apps

    After building Detect Debugger Code Manipulations, Appdome generates a Certified Secure™ certificate to guarantee that the Detect Debugger Code Manipulations protection has been added and is protecting the app. To verify that the Detect Debugger Code Manipulations protection has been added to the mobile app, locate the protection in the Certified Secure™ certificate as shown below: Detect Debugger Code Manipulations 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 Debugger Code Manipulations has been added to each Mobile app. Certified Secure provides instant and in-line DevSecOps compliance certification that Detect Debugger Code Manipulations and other mobile app security features are in each build of the mobile app

Using Threat-Events™ for Debugger Code Manipulations Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps

Appdome Threat-Events™ provides consumable in-app mobile app attack intelligence and defense control when Debugger Code Manipulations are detected. To consume and use Threat-Events™ for Debugger Code Manipulations in Mobile Apps, use AddObserverForName in Notification Center, and the code samples for Threat-Events™ for Debugger Code Manipulations shown below.

The specifications and options for Threat-Events™ for Debugger Code Manipulations are:

Threat-Event™ Elements Detect Debugger Code Manipulations Method Detail
Appdome Feature Name Detect Debugger Code Manipulations
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 Debugger Code Manipulations 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

With Threat-Events™ enabled (turned ON), Mobile developers can get detailed attack intelligence and granular defense control in Mobile applications and create amazing user experiences for all mobile end users when Debugger Code Manipulations are detected.

The following is a code sample for native Mobile apps, which uses all values in the specification above for Detect Debugger Code Manipulations:


Using Appdome, there are no development or coding prerequisites to build secured Mobile Apps by using Detect Debugger Code Manipulations. 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 Debugger Code Manipulations

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 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.

Want a Demo?

Mobile RASP Security

TomWe're here to help
We'll get back to you in 24 hours to schedule your demo.