Android Security Audit Reveals Common Flaws That Put 300,000 Users at Risk

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A security review of an Android app with 300,000 installs ahead of a funding round uncovered three critical vulnerabilities: unencrypted HTTP API calls, a refresh token stored in plain SharedPreferences, and full request bodies — including bearer tokens — logged to Logcat in debug builds shipped to production. None of the issues were sophisticated exploits; all were routine development oversights that could have been exploited by any competent attacker. Compounding the risk, the app's Play Data Safety form falsely claimed data handling practices that contradicted the actual code. The author outlines a repeatable security checklist covering network configuration, encrypted storage, SDK data disclosure, and certificate pinning to help developers address such gaps systematically. Google has enforced Play Data Safety form accuracy since 2022, and inaccurate disclosures can result in an app being flagged, suspended, or removed from the store.

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ProgrammingDEV Community ·

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