In Search of Shotgun Parsers in Android Applications

Abstract

In any software system, unprincipled handling of input data presents significant security risks. This is particularly true in the case of mobile platforms, where the prevalence of applications developed by amateur developers in combination with devices that hold a wealth of users' personal information can lead to significant security and privacy concerns. Of particular concern is the so-called shotgun parser pattern, in which input recognition is intermixed with input processing throughout the code base. In this work, we take the first steps toward building a tool for identification of shotgun parsers in Android applications. By extending the FlowDroid framework for static taint analysis, we are able to quantify the spread of untrusted data through 55 applications selected from 15 categories on the Google Play store. Our analysis reveals that on average, most untrusted input propagates a relatively short distance within the application code. However, we also find several specific instances of very long data propagations. In addition to providing a first look at the "state of parsing" in a variety of Android applications, our work in this paper lays the groundwork for more precise shotgun parser signature recognition.