# Android Task Hijacking
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## Task, Back Stack and Foreground Activities
A task is a collection of activities that users interact with when performing a certain job. The activities are arranged in a stack—the _**back stack**_)—in the order in which each activity is opened.
The activity that is **displayed** on the screen is called a **foreground** **activity** and its **task** is called the **foreground** **task**. At a time, only **one foreground task is visible on the screen**.
This is some simple activity flow:
* There's only Activity 1 in the foreground.
* Activity 2 is started which pushes Activity 1 to the Back Stack. Now Activity 2 is in the foreground.
* Activity 3 is started which pushes both Activity 1 and 2 to the Back Stack.
* Now when Activity 3 is closed. The previous activity i.e., 2 is brought automatically to the foreground. This is how task navigation works in Android.
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### Android Multi-tasking - One Task
One task is composed by several activities
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### Android Multi-tasking - Several Tasks
Android usually manages several tasks
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## Task Control Knobs
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## Task affinity attack
### Task affinity and Launch Modes
**Task affinity** is an attribute that is defined in each `` tag in the `AndroidManifest.xml` file. It describes which Task an Activity prefers to join.\
By default, every activity has the same affinity as the **package** name.
We'll be using this when creating our PoC app.
```markup
```
**Launch modes** allow you to define how a new instance of an activity is associated with the current task. The [`launchMode`](https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/manifest/activity-element#lmode) attribute specifies an instruction on how the activity should be launched into a task.\
There are four different **Launch Modes**:
1. standard (Default)
2. singleTop
3. **singleTask**
4. singleInstance
When the launchMode is set to `singleTask`, the Android system evaluates three possibilities and one of them is the reason why our attack is possible. Here they are -
* **If the Activity instance already exists**:\
Android resumes the existing instance instead of creating a new one. It means that there is at most one activity instance in the system under this mode.
* **If creating a new activity instance is necessary**:\
The Activity Manager Service (AMS) selects a task to host the newly created instance by finding a “**matching**” one in all existing tasks. **An activity “matches” a task if they have the same task affinity**. This is the reason why we can **specify the same task affinity as the vulnerable app in our malware/attacker's app so it launches in their task instead of creating it's own**.
* **Without finding a “matching” task**:\
The AMS creates a new task and makes the new activity instance the root activity of the newly created task.
### Attack
The victim needs to have the **malicious** **app** **installed** in his device. Then, he needs to **open** **it** **before** opening the **vulnerable** **application**. Then, when the **vulnerable** application is **opened**, the **malicious** **application** will be **opened** **instead**. If this malicious application presents the **same** **login** as the vulnerable application the **user won't have any means to know that he is putting his credentials in a malicious application**.
**You can find an attack implemented here:** [**https://github.com/az0mb13/Task\_Hijacking\_Strandhogg**](https://github.com/az0mb13/Task\_Hijacking\_Strandhogg)
## Preventing task hijacking
Setting **`taskAffinity=""`** can be a quick fix for this issue. The launch mode can also be set to **singleInstance** if the app does not want other activities to join tasks belonging to it. A custom **onBackPressed()** function can also be added, to override the default behaviour.
## **References**
* [**https://blog.dixitaditya.com/android-task-hijacking/**](https://blog.dixitaditya.com/android-task-hijacking/)
* [**https://blog.takemyhand.xyz/2021/02/android-task-hijacking-with.html**](https://blog.takemyhand.xyz/2021/02/android-task-hijacking-with.html)
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Learn AWS hacking from zero to hero withhtARTE (HackTricks AWS Red Team Expert)!
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* Get the [**official PEASS & HackTricks swag**](https://peass.creator-spring.com)
* Discover [**The PEASS Family**](https://opensea.io/collection/the-peass-family), our collection of exclusive [**NFTs**](https://opensea.io/collection/the-peass-family)
* **Join the** 💬 [**Discord group**](https://discord.gg/hRep4RUj7f) or the [**telegram group**](https://t.me/peass) or **follow** me on **Twitter** 🐦 [**@carlospolopm**](https://twitter.com/carlospolopm)**.**
* **Share your hacking tricks by submitting PRs to the** [**HackTricks**](https://github.com/carlospolop/hacktricks) and [**HackTricks Cloud**](https://github.com/carlospolop/hacktricks-cloud) github repos.
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