iOS Pentesting Checklist

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Preparation
Read iOS Basics​
Prepare your environment reading iOS Testing Environment​
Read all the sections of iOS Initial Analysis to learn common actions to pentest an iOS application
Data Storage
​Plist files can be used to store sensitive information.
​Core Data (SQLite database) can store sensitive information.
​YapDatabases (SQLite database) can store sensitive information.
​Firebase miss-configuration.
​Realm databases can store sensitive information.
​Couchbase Lite databases can store sensitive information.
​Binary cookies can store sensitive information
​Cache data can store sensitive information
​Automatic snapshots can save visual sensitive information
​Keychain is usually used to store sensitive information that can be left when reselling the phone.
In summary, just check for sensitive information saved by the application in the filesystem
Keyboards
Does the application allow to use custom keyboards?
Check if sensitive information is saved in the keyboards cache files​
Logs
Check if sensitive information is being logged​
Backups
​Backups can be used to access the sensitive information saved in the file system (check the initial point of this checklist)
Also, backups can be used to modify some configurations of the application, then restore the backup on the phone, and the as the modified configuration is loaded some (security) functionality may be bypassed
Applications Memory
Check for sensitive information inside the application's memory​
Broken Cryptography
Check if yo can find passwords used for cryptography​
Check for the use of deprecated/weak algorithms to send/store sensitive data
​Hook and monitor cryptography functions​
Local Authentication
If a local authentication is used in the application, you should check how the authentication is working.
If it's using the Local Authentication Framework it could be easily bypassed
If it's using a function that can dynamically bypassed you could create a custom frida script
Sensitive Functionality Exposure Through IPC
​Custom URI Handlers / Deeplinks / Custom Schemes​
Check if the application is registering any protocol/scheme
Check if the application is registering to use any protocol/scheme
Check if the application expects to receive any kind of sensitive information from the custom scheme that can be intercepted by the another application registering the same scheme
Check if the application isn't checking and sanitizing users input via the custom scheme and some vulnerability can be exploited
Check if the application exposes any sensitive action that can be called from anywhere via the custom scheme
​Universal Links​
Check if the application is registering any universal protocol/scheme
Check the apple-app-site-association file
Check if the application isn't checking and sanitizing users input via the custom scheme and some vulnerability can be exploited
Check if the application exposes any sensitive action that can be called from anywhere via the custom scheme
​UIActivity Sharing​
Check if the application can receive UIActivities and if it's possible to exploit any vulnerability with specially crafted activity
​UIPasteboard​
Check if the application if copying anything to the general pasteboard
Check if the application if using the data from the general pasteboard for anything
Monitor the pasteboard to see if any sensitive data is copied
​App Extensions​
Is the application using any extension?
​WebViews​
Check which kind of webviews are being used
Check the status of javaScriptEnabled, JavaScriptCanOpenWindowsAutomatically, hasOnlySecureContent
Check if the webview can access local files with the protocol file:// (allowFileAccessFromFileURLs, allowUniversalAccessFromFileURLs)
Check if Javascript can access Native methods (JSContext, postMessage)
Network Communication
Perform a MitM to the communication and search for web vulnerabilities.
Check if the hostname of the certificate is checked
Check/Bypass Certificate Pinning​
Misc
Check for automatic patching/updating mechanisms
Check for malicious third party libraries​
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Webview Attacks

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iOS Pentesting

Last modified 3mo ago

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Outline

Sensitive Functionality Exposure Through IPC

Network Communication

Misc