Kingdom: Time and State

Distributed computation is about time and state. That is, in order for more than one component to communicate, state must be shared, and all that takes time.

Most programmers anthropomorphize their work. They think about one thread of control carrying out the entire program in the same way they would if they had to do the job themselves. Modern computers, however, switch between tasks very quickly, and in multi-core, multi-CPU, or distributed systems, two events may take place at exactly the same time. Defects rush to fill the gap between the programmer's model of how a program executes and what happens in reality. These defects are related to unexpected interactions between threads, processes, time, and information. These interactions happen through shared state: semaphores, variables, the file system, and, basically, anything that can store information.

Race Condition: App Download

Java/JSP

Abstract

The application installs an application from shared storage, allowing a malicious app to replace the package to be installed.

Explanation

The app installs an application from shared storage where any application with external storage read/write permissions can write to. Due to a race condition, the malicious app monitoring the folder can swap a downloaded APK file for an alternate APK file, which the installation process will use in place of the legitimate update.

Example 1: The following code installs an applications from the shared storage:


    Intent intent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_VIEW);
    intent.setDataAndType(Uri.fromFile(new File(Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory() + "/download/" + "app.apk")), "application/vnd.android.package-archive");
    intent.setFlags(Intent.FLAG_ACTIVITY_NEW_TASK);
    startActivity(intent);

References

[1] Standards Mapping - Common Weakness Enumeration CWE ID 362, CWE ID 367

[2] Standards Mapping - Common Weakness Enumeration Top 25 2022 [22] CWE ID 362

[3] Standards Mapping - Common Weakness Enumeration Top 25 2023 [21] CWE ID 362

[4] Standards Mapping - DISA Control Correlation Identifier Version 2 CCI-000366, CCI-003178

[5] Standards Mapping - General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Indirect Access to Sensitive Data

[6] Standards Mapping - Motor Industry Software Reliability Association (MISRA) C Guidelines 2012 Rule 1.3

[7] Standards Mapping - NIST Special Publication 800-53 Revision 4 CM-6 Configuration Settings (P1)

[8] Standards Mapping - NIST Special Publication 800-53 Revision 5 CM-6 Configuration Settings

[9] Standards Mapping - OWASP Application Security Verification Standard 4.0 1.11.2 Business Logic Architectural Requirements (L2 L3), 1.11.3 Business Logic Architectural Requirements (L3), 11.1.6 Business Logic Security Requirements (L2 L3)

[10] Standards Mapping - OWASP Mobile Application Security Verification Standard 2.0 MASVS-RESILIENCE-2

[11] Standards Mapping - OWASP Top 10 2021 A04 Insecure Design

[12] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 3.0 Requirement 6.5.6

[13] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 3.1 Requirement 6.5.6

[14] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 3.2 Requirement 6.5.6

[15] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 3.2.1 Requirement 6.5.6

[16] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 4.0 Requirement 6.2.4

[17] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Software Security Framework 1.0 Control Objective 4.2 - Critical Asset Protection

[18] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Software Security Framework 1.1 Control Objective 4.2 - Critical Asset Protection, Control Objective B.3.3 - Terminal Software Attack Mitigation

[19] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Software Security Framework 1.2 Control Objective 4.2 - Critical Asset Protection, Control Objective B.3.3 - Terminal Software Attack Mitigation

[20] Standards Mapping - SANS Top 25 2009 Insecure Interaction - CWE ID 362

[21] Standards Mapping - SANS Top 25 2010 Insecure Interaction - CWE ID 362

[22] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.1 APP3630.1 CAT II

[23] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.4 APP3630.1 CAT II

[24] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.5 APP3630.1 CAT II

[25] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.6 APP3630.1 CAT II

[26] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.7 APP3630.1 CAT II

[27] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.9 APP3630.1 CAT II

[28] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.10 APP3630.1 CAT II

[29] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.2 APSC-DV-001995 CAT II

[30] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.3 APSC-DV-001995 CAT II

[31] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.4 APSC-DV-001995 CAT II

[32] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.5 APSC-DV-001995 CAT II

[33] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.6 APSC-DV-001995 CAT II

[34] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.7 APSC-DV-001995 CAT II

[35] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.8 APSC-DV-001995 CAT II

[36] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.9 APSC-DV-001995 CAT II

[37] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.10 APSC-DV-001995 CAT II

[38] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.11 APSC-DV-001995 CAT II

[39] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.1 APSC-DV-001995 CAT II

[40] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 5.1 APSC-DV-001995 CAT II

[41] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 5.2 APSC-DV-001995 CAT II

[42] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 5.3 APSC-DV-001995 CAT II

desc.dataflow.java.race_condition_app_download