Introspy-iOS

Blackbox tool to help understand what an iOS application is doing at runtime and assist in the identification of potential security issues.

See http://isecpartners.github.io/Introspy-iOS/ for a quick introduction.

Description

This is the repository for the Introspy-iOS tracer.

The tracer can be installed on a jailbroken device to hook and log security-sensitive iOS APIs called by applications running on the device. The tool records details of relevant API calls, including arguments and return values and persists them in a database. Additionally, the calls are also sent to the Console for real-time analysis.

The database can then be fed to Introspy-Analyzer, a Python script to generate HTML reports containing the list of logged function calls as well as a list of potential vulnerabilities affecting the application. Introspy-Analyzer is hosted on a separate repository: https://github.com/iSECPartners/Introspy-Analyzer

Installation

Users should first download the latest pre-compiled Debian package available in the release section of the project page at: https://github.com/iSECPartners/Introspy-iOS/releases

Dependencies

The tracer will only run on a jailbroken device. Using Cydia, make sure the following packages are installed:

• dpkg
• MobileSubstrate
• PreferenceLoader
• Applist

How to install

Download and copy the Debian package to the device; install it:

scp <package.deb> root@<device_ip>:~
ssh root@<device_ip>
dpkg -i <package.deb>

Respring the device:

killall -HUP SpringBoard

There should be two new menus in the device's Settings. The Apps menu allows you to select which applications will be profiled while the Settings menu defines which API groups are being hooked.

Finally, kill and restart the App you want to monitor.

How to uninstall

dpkg -r com.isecpartners.introspy

Generating HTML Reports

The tracer will store data about API calls made by applications in a database stored on the device (actually one in each application's folder). This database can be fed to a Python script call Introspy-Analyzer in order to generate HTML reports that make it a lot easier to review the data collected by the tracer. The script will also analyze and flag dangerous API calls in order to facilitate the process of identifying vulnerabilities within iOS applications.

Introspy-Analyzer is hosted on a separate repository: https://github.com/iSECPartners/Introspy-Analyzer

Building Introspy-iOS

Most users should just download and install the pre-compiled Debian package. However, if you want to modify the library's functionality you will have to build the Debian package yourself.

The build requires rpetrich's fork of the Theos suite, available at https://github.com/rpetrich/theos. For general instructions on how to install Theos, see http://www.iphonedevwiki.net/index.php/Theos/Getting\_Started but make sure you're using rpetrich's fork, not the official Theos.

You first have to create a symlink to your theos installation:

cd Introspy-iOS/src/
ln -s /opt/theos/ ./theos

Then, the package can be built using:

make package

Once you've successfully created the debian package, you can use Theos to automatically install the package and re-spring the device by specifying the device's IP address in the THEOS_DEVICE_IP environment variable:

export THEOS_DEVICE_IP=192.168.1.127
make install

License

See ./LICENSE.

Authors

• Tom Daniels
• Alban Diquet