Mobile Application Shielding for Android Version 7.4.0 (May 2025)

Previously, the Shielding Tool checked that an application compiled with any Shield SDK modules had the same version number between the module(s) and the Shielding Tool. If it detected a different Shield SDK version, the Shielding Tool printed an error message like the following example and exited:

```
ERROR: Shield SDK module common detected with version 7.0.4, but expected version 7.4.0
ERROR: Cannot shield the application:
ERROR: Shield SDK version mismatch! The application needs to be compiled with the
Shield SDK that is delivered with the Shielding Tool. Either recompile your application with
Shield SDK version 7.4.0 or use Shielding Tool version 7.0.4.
```

Now, the Shielding Tool accepts older Shield SDK modules if they are binary compatible with the Shielding Tool version. That is, for patch level updates, the application does not need to be recompiled with new Shield SDK modules.

Detection of emulated input has been improved for several Honor devices.

The improved unlocked bootloader detection now supports Android 16 and detects an unlocked bootloader on several OnePlus devices. An unlocked bootloader allows the device to be flashed and rooted. It also suggests that the device might be running a custom and/or malicious operating system. Even though an unlocked bootloader on its own is not a security threat, it is often a first step to other potential attacks. Unlocked bootloader detection is enabled with the Check bootloader status configuration option. You can also use Exit on bootloader status to exit the app when an unlocked bootloader is detected.

Description:The methods used to block screenshots also block some screen mirroring tools. However, the scrcpy tool is only blocked on Android 12 and later. On Android 15, this option also blocks partial screen sharing.

Description: Because of the nature of pure Javascript frameworks such as Cordova, the effectiveness of the push and pull bindings of App Shielding is affected. As a result, it might be possible to extract all Javascript files from a shielded application and build a new Cordova-based application with the extracted Javascript files. That new application will behave identical to the original one but has two major differences:

1. It is not longer protected with App Shielding.

2. It is signed with a different developer certificate.

Because this new application is signed with a different developer certificate, it is recognized by the stores or every device as a completely different and new application in comparison to the original shielded application. It cannot be avoided that a new application like this is built that looks and behaves similar to the original application.

OneSpan risk assessment: Threat actors will need to make heavy use of targeted phishing attacks to convince users of the original application to install the rogue version. For attackers, however, it is much easier to use existing malware frameworks that mimic hundreds of login screens in one single piece of malware. In addition, the existence of any rogue versions of the application does not affect the security features of the original shielded application. Everyone who is using the genuine, shielded application is protected with all the features of App Shielding, including all security measures of the original application. Therefore, we consider this issue to be of low risk.

Description: When using the shielded version of the app, NFC payments fail. This is caused by a compatibility issue with the Thales Gemalto TSH Pay SDK which also provides debugger detection. The SDK incorrectly flags the App Shielding debugger detection as a native debugger.

Solution: Allowlisting. For implementations integrating both the Thales Gemalto SDK and App Shielding, debuggers coming from the SDK's own debugging processes and sub-processes should be added to an allowlist within theThales Gemalto SDK.

It is essential to not only add the processes to the allowlist but also their sub-processes. Otherwise, the SDK will still handle App Shielding as a native debugger!

Root hider tools such as Magisk Hide are designed to hide the fact that the device is compromised (rooted). Android has been increasingly restricted in what can be inspected and observed of the system from inside an app. This means that a rooted system with a root hider tool can be hard to detect due to missing privileges.

On Android 8+, App Shielding may not able to reliably detect a rooted device with Magisk Hide depending on the version of these tools.