hacktricks/ios-pentesting/ios-uiactivity-sharing.md

# iOS UIActivity Sharing

## UIActivity Sharing

Starting on iOS 6 it is possible for third-party apps to **share data \(items\)** via specific mechanisms [like AirDrop, for example](https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/iPhone/Conceptual/iPhoneOSProgrammingGuide/Inter-AppCommunication/Inter-AppCommunication.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40007072-CH6-SW3). From a user perspective, this feature is the well-known system-wide _share activity sheet_ that appears after clicking on the "Share" button.

A full list of the available built-in sharing mechanisms can be found in [UIActivity.ActivityType](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/uikit/uiactivity/activitytype). If not considered appropriate for the app, the d**evelopers have the possibility to exclude some of these sharing mechanisms**.

### **Sending Items**

When testing `UIActivity` Sharing you should pay special attention to:

* the data \(items\) being shared,
* the custom activities,
* the excluded activity types.

Data sharing via `UIActivity` works by creating a `UIActivityViewController` and passing it the desired items \(URLs, text, a picture\) on [`init(activityItems:applicationActivities:)`](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/uikit/uiactivityviewcontroller/1622019-init).

If having the source code, you should take a look at the `UIActivityViewController`:

* Inspect the activities passed to the `init(activityItems:applicationActivities:)` method.
* Check if it defines custom activities \(also being passed to the previous method\).
* Verify the `excludedActivityTypes`, if any.

If you only have the compiled/installed app, try searching for the previous method and property, for example:

```bash
$ rabin2 -zq Telegram\ X.app/Telegram\ X | grep -i activityItems
0x1000df034 45 44 initWithActivityItems:applicationActivities:
```

### **Receiving Items**

When receiving items, you should check:

* if the app **declares** _**custom document types**_ ****by looking into **Exported/Imported UTIs** \("Info" tab of the Xcode project\). The list of all system declared UTIs \(Uniform Type Identifiers\) can be found in the [archived Apple Developer Documentation](https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Miscellaneous/Reference/UTIRef/Articles/System-DeclaredUniformTypeIdentifiers.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40009259).
* if the app specifies any _**document types that it can open**_ by looking into **Document Types** \("Info" tab of the Xcode project\). If present, they consist of name and one or more UTIs that represent the data type \(e.g. "public.png" for PNG files\). iOS uses this to determine if the app is eligible to open a given document \(specifying Exported/Imported UTIs is not enough\).
* if the app properly _**verifies the received data**_ by looking into the implementation of [`application:openURL:options:`](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/uikit/uiapplicationdelegate/1623112-application?language=objc) \(or its deprecated version [`UIApplicationDelegate application:openURL:sourceApplication:annotation:`](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/uikit/uiapplicationdelegate/1623073-application?language=objc)\) in the app delegate.

If not having the source code you can still take a look into the `Info.plist` file and search for:

* `UTExportedTypeDeclarations`/`UTImportedTypeDeclarations` if the app declares exported/imported _custom document types_.
* `CFBundleDocumentTypes` to see if the app specifies any _document types that it can open_.

A very complete explanation about the use of these keys can be found [on Stackoverflow](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/21937978/what-are-utimportedtypedeclarations-and-utexportedtypedeclarations-used-for-on-i) but here you have a summary:

* `UTExportedTypeDeclarations`: Use them to define **your own UTIs** that your app wants to teach the system it is installed on. An **UTI describes a piece of data** \(_not necessarily data located inside a file!_\) and requires at least an **identifier** \(`com.example.MyCoolDataType`\). Additionally it may have a **name** \(`My Cool Data Type`\), one or more file name **extensions** \(`.myCoolDataType`\), one or more **MIME** **types** \(`x-application/my-cool-data-type`\), one or more **pasteboard** **types** \(used when transferring data of that kind using copy&paste\), and one or more **legacy OS type**. Usually you also want UTIs to conform to existing UTIs \(E.g. when you say your UTI conforms to `public.data`, any process that can deal with generic data can also deal with your UTI\).
  * e.g.: You define your own proprietary file data format and you want this data format to be also known to other apps, plugins, extensions, and so on.
* `UTImportedTypeDeclarations`: You use `UTImportedTypeDeclarations` do **teach the system about UTIs that you want to be known in the system but that are not your UTIs**.
  * e.g.: Your app is able to read the proprietary data format of another application, yet you don't know if that application is even installed on the system.
* `CFBundleDocumentTypes`: You use `CFBundleDocumentTypes` to tell the system which Document types your app is able to open. Unless you **also list your UTIs here**, these UTIs are not associated with your app in Finder and your app won't appear in the `Open With >` menu.  The only thing you always must set for a document type is the role. The **role** can be "**Viewer**" \(you can display that file type but you cannot edit it\), "**Editor**" \(you can display and edit that file type\), "**None**" \(it's not specified what you can do with that file\).
  * e.g.: You want your **app do be associated with certain file types**, identified either by extension, by MIME type, or by UTI identifier. **If you want your app to be associated with an UTI type, the app should either import or export the type**, as otherwise the type may not be known to the system and registering to unknown UTI type has simply no effect at all.

### Dynamic Testing

For **sending activities** you can:

* Hook the method we have seen in the static analysis \([`init(activityItems:applicationActivities:)`](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/uikit/uiactivityviewcontroller/1622019-init)\) to get the `activityItems` and `applicationActivities`.
* Find out the excluded activities by hooking [`excludedActivityTypes` property](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/uikit/uiactivityviewcontroller/1622009-excludedactivitytypes).

For receiving items you can:

* _Share_ a file with the app from another app or send it via AirDrop or e-mail. Choose the file so that it will trigger the "Open with..." dialogue \(that is, there is no default app that will open the file, a PDF for example\).
* Hook `application:openURL:options:` and any other methods that were identified in a previous static analysis.
* Observe the app behavior.
* In addition, you could send specific malformed files and/or use a fuzzing technique.

**Read how** [**here**](https://mobile-security.gitbook.io/mobile-security-testing-guide/ios-testing-guide/0x06h-testing-platform-interaction#dynamic-analysis-8)**.**