{"id":34427,"date":"2025-05-04T16:02:42","date_gmt":"2025-05-04T16:02:42","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-08-07T11:57:05","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T17:57:05","slug":"cve-2024-21633-critical-path-manipulation-vulnerability-in-apktool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2024-21633-critical-path-manipulation-vulnerability-in-apktool\/","title":{"rendered":"CVE-2024-21633: Critical Path Manipulation Vulnerability in Apktool<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

The CVE-2024-21633 vulnerability lies within Apktool, a popular tool used for reverse engineering Android APK files. This vulnerability affects versions 2.9.1 and prior of the tool. The vulnerability allows an attacker to manipulate resource file paths<\/a> and potentially place files at any location on the system where Apktool is run. This could lead to potential system compromise or data<\/a> leakage. This vulnerability is particularly concerning for environments where an attacker can write or overwrite any file the user has write access<\/a> to, and either the user name is known or the current working directory is under the user folder.<\/p>\n

Vulnerability Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n

CVE ID: CVE-2024-21633
\nSeverity: High (7.8 CVSS)
\nAttack Vector: Local File System<\/a>
\nPrivileges Required: User level
\nUser Interaction: Required
\nImpact: System compromise<\/a> or data leakage<\/p>\n

Affected Products<\/strong><\/p>\n

Product | Affected Versions<\/p>\n

Apktool | 2.9.1 and prior<\/p>\n

How the Exploit Works<\/strong><\/p>\n

The exploit takes advantage of the way Apktool infers resource file output paths<\/a> based on their resource names. By manipulating these names, an attacker can influence where the output files are placed. This can allow an attacker to overwrite existing files or create new ones in sensitive areas of the file system, potentially leading to system<\/a> compromise or data leakage.<\/p>\n

Conceptual Example Code<\/strong><\/p>\n

The following is a conceptual example of how the vulnerability<\/a> might be exploited:<\/p>\n

import brut.androlib.*;\nimport brut.androlib.res.data.*;\n\/\/ Create an instance of ApkDecoder (part of Apktool)\nApkDecoder decoder = new ApkDecoder();\n\/\/ Set the APK file to be decoded\ndecoder.setApkFile(new File(\"path-to-malicious.apk\"));\n\/\/ Set the output directory to a directory controlled by the attacker\ndecoder.setOutDir(new File(\"malicious-output-directory\"));\n\/\/ Decode the APK\ndecoder.decode();<\/code><\/pre>\n
In this example, `path-to-malicious.apk` is an APK file crafted by an attacker to contain resource files with manipulated<\/a> names. When decoded by Apktool, these resource files are placed in `malicious-output-directory`, which could be any location on the file system where the user<\/a> running Apktool has write access.<\/p>\n
Mitigation<\/strong><\/p>\n
Users of Apktool should apply the patch contained in commit d348c43b24a9de350ff6e5bd610545a10c1fc712 as soon as possible. If it is not possible to apply this patch immediately, using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can provide temporary mitigation. However, these measures are not a substitute for applying the patch and should only be considered as a short-term solution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Overview The CVE-2024-21633 vulnerability lies within Apktool, a popular tool used for reverse engineering Android APK files. This vulnerability affects versions 2.9.1 and prior of the tool. The vulnerability allows an attacker to manipulate resource file paths and potentially place files at any location on the system where Apktool is run. This could lead to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"vendor":[91],"product":[],"attack_vector":[],"asset_type":[],"severity":[],"exploit_status":[],"class_list":["post-34427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","vendor-google"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t