CWE-925: Improper Verification of Intent by Broadcast Receiver
Description
The Android application uses a Broadcast Receiver that receives an Intent but does not properly verify that the Intent came from an authorized source.
Certain types of Intents, identified by action string, can only be broadcast by the operating system itself, not by third-party applications. However, when an application registers to receive these implicit system intents, it is also registered to receive any explicit intents. While a malicious application cannot send an implicit system intent, it can send an explicit intent to the target application, which may assume that any received intent is a valid implicit system intent and not an explicit intent from another application. This may lead to unintended behavior.
- Abstraction
- VariantA weakness tied to a specific language, technology or resource.
- Likelihood of exploit
- Not rated by MITRE
- Status
- Incomplete
Common consequences
- Integrity
Gain Privileges or Assume Identity
Another application can impersonate the operating system and cause the software to perform an unintended action.
Potential mitigations
- Architecture and Design
Before acting on the Intent, check the Intent Action to make sure it matches the expected System action.