Mobile applications have become an essential part of our daily lives, handling everything from communication to banking and healthcare. With the increasing reliance on mobile apps, security threats have also escalated. Malicious attackers exploit vulnerabilities in applications to steal sensitive data, compromise user privacy, and gain unauthorized access to systems.
To combat these threats, security testing is crucial during the development lifecycle. One of the most effective security testing techniques is static analysis, which helps developers and security professionals identify potential vulnerabilities before the application is deployed.
In this guide, we will explore the Mobile Security Framework (MobSF), an open-source security analysis tool, and walk through the process of performing static analysis on Android and iOS applications.
Static Application Security Testing (SAST), commonly known as static analysis, is the process of analyzing an application’s code, configuration files, and dependencies without executing it. Unlike Dynamic Analysis, which tests an application while it is running, static analysis is performed on the source code or compiled binaries (APK, IPA) to detect security flaws, coding errors, and compliance violations.
Static analysis is a crucial component of secure mobile application development because it:
▪️Identifies Vulnerabilities Early: Detects security flaws before deployment, reducing the cost and effort needed to fix them.
▪️Ensures Compliance: Helps meet security standards such as OWASP Mobile Top 10, GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI-DSS.
▪️Prevents Data Leaks: Identifies hardcoded secrets, insecure API calls, and unencrypted sensitive data.
▪️Analyzes Third-party Dependencies: Checks for outdated or vulnerable libraries integrated into the application.
Related read: A Step-by-Step Guide to Implementing Effective Security Testing
The Mobile Security Framework (MobSF) is an automated, open-source tool designed for analyzing mobile applications. It supports both static and dynamic analysis for Android and iOS apps. MobSF provides a comprehensive security report highlighting potential risks and actionable recommend
▪️Binary Analysis: Decompiles APK (Android) and IPA (iOS) files to analyze the underlying code.
▪️Manifest Analysis: Extracts permissions, exported activities, and security misconfigurations.
▪️Code Analysis: Identifies hardcoded secrets, API keys, weak cryptographic implementations, and insecure network communication.
▪️API and URL Analysis: Detects backend servers, unprotected API endpoints, and potential data leaks.
▪️Third-party Libraries Check: Scans dependencies for known vulnerabilities.
▪️CI/CD Integration: Can be integrated into DevSecOps workflows to automate security testing.
Before using MobSF, you need to set up the tool on your system. There are two primary ways to install MobSF: using Docker (recommended) or setting it up manually.
Ensure you have the following installed before proceeding:
▪️Python 3.8+
▪️Git
▪️Docker (optional, but recommended for easy deployment)
▪️Java (for decompilation of Android applications)
1. Installing MobSF with Docker (Recommended)
Using Docker simplifies the installation process and avoids dependency issues:
2. Manual Installation (Without Docker)
If you prefer a manual setup, follow these steps:
Once MobSF is running, open a web browser and navigate to http://127.0.0.1:8000.
Before we begin, we will understand how to set up the
▪️Run this command
▪️cd Mobile-Security-Framework-MobSF
▪️START THE MobSF Servier ->127.0.0.1:8000
▪️Open MobSF in your web browser.
▪️Drag and drop an APK (Android) or IPA (iOS) file into the upload section.
▪️Click on Upload and Analyze to start the security assessment.
Once the analysis is complete, MobSF generates a detailed report covering various security aspects of the application:
Manifest & Permissions Analysis (Android)
▪️Identifies insecure permissions that may allow unauthorized access to sensitive data.
▪️Detects exported components (activities, services, broadcast receivers) that could be exploited by malicious apps.
Code & Binary Analysis
▪️Decompiles the application to check for hardcoded API keys, passwords, and secrets.
▪️Identifies weak cryptographic practices, such as the use of MD5 or SHA-1.
▪️Scans for insecure logging mechanisms that may expose user data.
API & Network Security
▪️Extracts and analyzes all network endpoints the app communicates with.
▪️Identifies unprotected APIs and improper SSL/TLS configurations.
Third-party Library Analysis
▪️Scans dependencies for known vulnerabilities (CVE reports).
▪️Checks if the application uses outdated or insecure libraries.
To enhance security, follow these best practices when using MobSF:
▪️Regularly Scan Applications: Perform static analysis before each release to identify vulnerabilities early.
▪️Combine with Dynamic Analysis: Use MobSF’s dynamic analysis to detect runtime security issues.
▪️Integrate into CI/CD Pipelines: Automate MobSF scans within DevSecOps workflows for continuous security testing.
▪️Monitor API Endpoints: Ensure API calls use secure authentication and are protected against data leaks.
▪️Review Permissions & Components: Remove unnecessary permissions and ensure components are not unintentionally exposed.
Static analysis using the Mobile Security Framework is an essential step in securing mobile applications. It helps developers and security teams identify vulnerabilities before attackers exploit them. By integrating MobSF into the development lifecycle, organizations can significantly improve the security of their mobile apps.
Whether you’re an app developer, security analyst, or penetration tester, the Mobile Security Framework (MobSF) provides a powerful platform for mobile application security assessment. By following best practices and using MobSF effectively, you can ensure your apps are resilient against evolving cyber threats.
Would you like to explore dynamic analysis with MobSF in a future post? Let us know in the comments!
We worked with Mindbowser on a design sprint, and their team did an awesome job. They really helped us shape the look and feel of our web app and gave us a clean, thoughtful design that our build team could...
The team at Mindbowser was highly professional, patient, and collaborative throughout our engagement. They struck the right balance between offering guidance and taking direction, which made the development process smooth. Although our project wasn’t related to healthcare, we clearly benefited...
Founder, Texas Ranch Security
Mindbowser played a crucial role in helping us bring everything together into a unified, cohesive product. Their commitment to industry-standard coding practices made an enormous difference, allowing developers to seamlessly transition in and out of the project without any confusion....
CEO, MarketsAI
I'm thrilled to be partnering with Mindbowser on our journey with TravelRite. The collaboration has been exceptional, and I’m truly grateful for the dedication and expertise the team has brought to the development process. Their commitment to our mission is...
Founder & CEO, TravelRite
The Mindbowser team's professionalism consistently impressed me. Their commitment to quality shone through in every aspect of the project. They truly went the extra mile, ensuring they understood our needs perfectly and were always willing to invest the time to...
CTO, New Day Therapeutics
I collaborated with Mindbowser for several years on a complex SaaS platform project. They took over a partially completed project and successfully transformed it into a fully functional and robust platform. Throughout the entire process, the quality of their work...
President, E.B. Carlson
Mindbowser and team are professional, talented and very responsive. They got us through a challenging situation with our IOT product successfully. They will be our go to dev team going forward.
Founder, Cascada
Amazing team to work with. Very responsive and very skilled in both front and backend engineering. Looking forward to our next project together.
Co-Founder, Emerge
The team is great to work with. Very professional, on task, and efficient.
Founder, PeriopMD
I can not express enough how pleased we are with the whole team. From the first call and meeting, they took our vision and ran with it. Communication was easy and everyone was flexible to our schedule. I’m excited to...
Founder, Seeke
We had very close go live timeline and Mindbowser team got us live a month before.
CEO, BuyNow WorldWide
If you want a team of great developers, I recommend them for the next project.
Founder, Teach Reach
Mindbowser built both iOS and Android apps for Mindworks, that have stood the test of time. 5 years later they still function quite beautifully. Their team always met their objectives and I'm very happy with the end result. Thank you!
Founder, Mindworks
Mindbowser has delivered a much better quality product than our previous tech vendors. Our product is stable and passed Well Architected Framework Review from AWS.
CEO, PurpleAnt
I am happy to share that we got USD 10k in cloud credits courtesy of our friends at Mindbowser. Thank you Pravin and Ayush, this means a lot to us.
CTO, Shortlist
Mindbowser is one of the reasons that our app is successful. These guys have been a great team.
Founder & CEO, MangoMirror
Kudos for all your hard work and diligence on the Telehealth platform project. You made it possible.
CEO, ThriveHealth
Mindbowser helped us build an awesome iOS app to bring balance to people’s lives.
CEO, SMILINGMIND
They were a very responsive team! Extremely easy to communicate and work with!
Founder & CEO, TotTech
We’ve had very little-to-no hiccups at all—it’s been a really pleasurable experience.
Co-Founder, TEAM8s
Mindbowser was very helpful with explaining the development process and started quickly on the project.
Executive Director of Product Development, Innovation Lab
The greatest benefit we got from Mindbowser is the expertise. Their team has developed apps in all different industries with all types of social proofs.
Co-Founder, Vesica
Mindbowser is professional, efficient and thorough.
Consultant, XPRIZE
Very committed, they create beautiful apps and are very benevolent. They have brilliant Ideas.
Founder, S.T.A.R.S of Wellness
Mindbowser was great; they listened to us a lot and helped us hone in on the actual idea of the app. They had put together fantastic wireframes for us.
Co-Founder, Flat Earth
Ayush was responsive and paired me with the best team member possible, to complete my complex vision and project. Could not be happier.
Founder, Child Life On Call
The team from Mindbowser stayed on task, asked the right questions, and completed the required tasks in a timely fashion! Strong work team!
CEO, SDOH2Health LLC
Mindbowser was easy to work with and hit the ground running, immediately feeling like part of our team.
CEO, Stealth Startup
Mindbowser was an excellent partner in developing my fitness app. They were patient, attentive, & understood my business needs. The end product exceeded my expectations. Thrilled to share it globally.
Owner, Phalanx
Mindbowser's expertise in tech, process & mobile development made them our choice for our app. The team was dedicated to the process & delivered high-quality features on time. They also gave valuable industry advice. Highly recommend them for app development...
Co-Founder, Fox&Fork
