Mobile App Penetration Testing — Android & iOS.
Manual + tooled penetration testing for Android (APK / AAB) and iOS (IPA) apps. We decompile, instrument with Frida, intercept TLS, abuse the backend the app talks to, and prove which findings actually move money or PII — not just which ones the scanner flagged.
Android
APK · AAB · Smali / DEX
iOS
IPA · Mach-O · Objective-C / Swift
Hybrid
React Native · Flutter · Cordova · Ionic
Backend
Mobile-facing REST / GraphQL APIs
The binary ships with the attack surface.
Unlike a web app, a mobile binary lives on a device you don’t control. Every API key, every business rule, every fallback flow in the source code is one jadx -d away from being read by anyone with the APK. SSL pinning, root detection, RASP — all defence in depth, all bypassable on a rooted Magisk device with a tame Frida script.
A real mobile pentest treats the binary as already-decompiled and the device as already-rooted — then sees what an attacker can still do. That’s the threat model. Anything less is a scanner with a logo.
- Hard-coded secrets in resources / Info.plist
- SSL pinning + cert-validation bypass
- Root / jailbreak detection that holds (or doesn't)
- Insecure storage on rooted SQLite / KeyChain
- Backend BOLA / IDOR called only from the mobile client
Tap a category. See Android vs iOS impact.
The 2024 refresh of OWASP’s mobile top 10 mapped to per-platform prevalence from Macksofy’s 2025 engagement telemetry. Tap any card to see what we actually find on the apps we test.
Improper Credential Usage
Hard-coded API keys, secrets in resources.arsc / plist, weak credential reuse
Real-world prevalence per Macksofy 2025 mobile engagement telemetry across 10× categories. Higher = more likely to surface as a High/Critical in your app.
Three approaches. One engagement.
A Macksofy mobile pentest blends three industry-standard approaches across every engagement — because no single one catches everything. SAST reads the code without running it. DAST watches what happens when it runs. MAST is the human work in between. You get all three; the scanner shops give you one and call it a pentest.
Static Application Security Testing
Read the binary without running it. Every APK gets jadx + apktool, every IPA gets class-dump plus Hopper or Ghidra. We walk the source-equivalent code, smali listings and Mach-O strings by hand.
What it catches
- Hard-coded API keys, AWS / GCP secrets in resources.arsc + Info.plist
- Insecure cryptographic primitives + custom-rolled crypto
- Debug endpoints and feature flags shipped to production
- Vulnerable third-party SDKs + transitive native-lib CVEs
Dynamic Application Security Testing
Watch the app while it runs. A rooted Android + jailbroken iOS fleet, Frida + Objection instrumentation, Burp Suite interception under cert-pinning bypass, plus live inspection of every on-device data store.
What it catches
- TLS pinning gaps + cleartext fallbacks under hostile networks
- Insecure data at rest in KeyChain, SharedPreferences, SQLite
- Runtime authorisation flaws visible only against a live backend
- Background-snapshot + logcat PII leakage during normal use
Manual Application Security Testing
The human-driven testing scanners can’t model. Bypass RASP. Tamper with the binary. Chain low-severity findings into business-impacting compromises. This is the work that justifies hiring people instead of subscriptions.
What it catches
- Multi-step business-logic abuse + payment / KYC bypass chains
- Root + SafetyNet + anti-Frida + anti-debug bypass paths
- Account takeover via chained low-severity findings
- Tampered + repackaged builds that pass integrity checks
We don’t pick one. Every Macksofy mobile engagement applies SAST, DAST and MAST in sequence — chained across the six methodology phases below — so the findings from one approach feed the next.
See the methodologySix phases. APK to attestation.
A Macksofy engagement walks the OWASP MASVS + MSTG testing guide from the moment we acquire your build to the moment we hand back a regulator-ready attestation. Each phase applies SAST, DAST or MAST — usually two of the three — with a consultant typing the exploit, not a tool clicking through a YAML config. Findings cross-reference across phases so the deliverable reads like an attacker’s logbook, not a scanner export.
1 · Scope & threat-model
- 01Acquire the build under test — APK, AAB or IPA, version-pinned
- 02Map the backend endpoints the app actually calls in production
- 03Set the threat-actor profile — opportunistic, targeted, or insider
- 04Agree the crown jewels — what would actually hurt if exfiltrated
- 05Sign rules of engagement and the authorisation letter
What we found in production apps.
Android + iOS retail-banking app + REST APIs
Finding · Root-detection bypass via Frida + transaction-replay through expired-but-accepted JWT
Critical — pre-RBI audit fix prevented six-figure exposure window
iOS + backend FHIR APIs
Finding · Biometric-bypass via Touch ID hook + cross-tenant prescription read via API IDOR
Critical — PHI exposure closed before DESC notification window expired
Android app + payment SDK
Finding · Hard-coded payment gateway secret in resources.arsc + deep-link order-status takeover
High — chained to free-order PoC, fixed pre-funding round close
The mobile pentest your scanner can’t run.
Most “mobile VAPT” engagements in India and the GCC ship a MobSF scan, a Drozer audit and a PDF. The findings that actually unblock an RBI submission or close a CISO sign-off don’t come out of a tool — they come from a human on a rooted device with Frida open. Here’s the work that goes into a Macksofy engagement that doesn’t fit in a YAML config.
We bypass your RASP first.
Root detection, SafetyNet attestation, SSL pinning and anti-Frida hooks are defence layers — not audit blockers. Every engagement opens with a hand-tuned Frida bypass for your specific app, then the real testing begins on the attack surface those layers were supposed to protect.
We read the binary the way attackers do.
Every APK gets jadx and apktool. Every IPA gets class-dump plus Hopper or Ghidra. We trawl resources.arsc, Info.plist, smali and Mach-O strings for hard-coded secrets, dev endpoints and shipped-but-disabled feature flags — context the scanner doesn’t have.
Your backend is in scope, too.
The app talks to an API. That API is also a Macksofy engagement. OSWE-trained consultants run BOLA, IDOR, mass-assignment and JWT-replay tradecraft against every endpoint the app calls — because the worst breaches start in the binary and end at the API.
OWASP MASVS attestation, on paper.
The deliverable commits to an explicit verification level — L1, L2 or R — per the official OWASP Mobile Application Security Verification Standard. A number your enterprise customers, app-store reviewers and regulators can map. Not “OWASP-aligned” handwaving.
RBI, UIDAI, DESC, PDPL — same report.
CERT-In empanelled. Every High and Critical finding maps to RBI’s Master Direction on Mobile Banking, UIDAI Aadhaar Auth API controls, PCI DSS v4 and (for UAE work) DESC ISR plus UAE PDPL. India + GCC compliance settled in a single engagement.
Free retest. Closed, not pending.
One free verification cycle within 30 days of developer sign-off. We rerun the affected phases on the patched build, validate each fix on a rooted device and reissue the attestation — so the auditor and the SOC reader both see ‘closed’, never ‘remediation pending’.
Mutual NDA is step zero of every engagement. Builds, exam artefacts and findings live on Macksofy infrastructure for the engagement window plus 90 days, then are securely destroyed against a CERT-In-acceptable retention policy.
Talk to a mobile leadFrida + Burp + a rooted device fleet.
Mobile testing is hands-on with real hardware. We maintain a fleet of rooted Android (Pixel + OEM Magisk) and jailbroken iOS handsets, plus Corellium for iOS versions we don’t yet own physically. Custom Frida scripts handle pinning + root-detection bypass per app.
One report. Every reviewer.
Every finding maps to the standard each stakeholder will actually read against your app — RBI for banking, PCI for payments, UIDAI for Aadhaar SDK use, plus App Store / Play Store policy appendix so submission rejections don’t blindside a release.
OWASP MASVS L1 / L2 / R
verification level attestation
OWASP MSTG
test-coverage matrix per chapter
RBI Mobile Banking Master Direction
BFSI app sign-off
PCI DSS v4 / SAQ-D
cardholder-data scope reduction
UIDAI Aadhaar Auth API
biometric SDK controls
App Store policy + Privacy Manifest
iOS 17+ submission readiness
Play Console Data Safety
Android 14+ permissions audit
GDPR / DPDP Act
PII residency + retention on device
ISO/IEC 27001 + 27034
ASLC control mapping
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- CERT-In Empanelled
- EC-Council ATC · CompTIA Authorized
- 20,000+ professionals trained
- India + UAE engagements