Files
apk-reverse/scripts/dex_strpatch.py
T
inliver233 a552157f1b Close the byte-patching gap, add the server-config path, fix two script crashes
Worked end-to-end on a real unobfuscated commercial app (single-dex, no packer,
server-driven launch screen) and folded back everything that cost time. Net +17
files, no new dependencies, no sample-specific identifiers.

New references
  byte-level-patching.md
    The technique that was missing entirely. Equal-length in-place edits beat
    method rebuilding (measured on a real sample: method rewrite grew debug_info
    924 B -> 22.8 KB and the dex 4.32 MB -> 7.73 MB), but four failure modes are
    silent: same-length is not enough, branch polarity, verifier legality, and
    stale dex header fields. Covers locating an instruction's exact offset (why
    listings and byte-pattern guesses both fail), the instruction width table and
    the two traps that desynchronise a decode, neutralise-a-branch vs redirect-it,
    and the header's signature-then-checksum order.
  server-config-and-updates.md
    The most common shape of "ad" in a modern app, and the one usually
    mis-diagnosed: the server supplies UI the client renders. The two-layer fetch
    (local fallback then remote override) that proves it, finding the config DTOs
    through the field names data classes keep, why you patch the decision and not
    the data, deciding the scope of "remove", and remote re-enable / cached config
    durability.

New scripts
  dexutil.py             dependency-free dex reader: structural walk, exact
                         instruction decode, dex header recompute/verify in the
                         correct order, branch-target and operand helpers
  dex_find_insn.py       locate an instruction by decoded semantics, print its exact
                         byte offset with context and BOTH sides of any branch
  dex_patch_bytes.py     equal-length byte patches from a JSON spec: semantic match,
                         polarity pin via expect_next, equal-length enforcement,
                         verifier check, header recompute, re-decode to prove it landed
  dex_check_verifier.py  does any conditional branch target a move-result (bypassing
                         its producer)? Compares builds and separates pre-existing
                         findings from regressions the patch introduced
  coldstart.py           cold-launch capture: timed screenshot burst + logcat signals
                         + installed-build facts + launch timing, and a warning when
                         the foreground activity is not the app
  check_repo.py          maintenance check: every script parses and answers --help,
                         every referenced path resolves, every file is documented

Fixes found while running the above
  repack.py       wrote archives with a plain zipfile writer, which cannot satisfy
                  the Android R+ install gate: resources.arsc must be STORED *and*
                  4-byte aligned, and a zip extra record cannot express a 1-3 byte
                  pad (a stored filler entry is inserted instead). Also fixes the
                  central-directory pointer and adds an alignment gate to the output.
  usb_net_proxy.py, dex_strpatch.py
                  crashed on --help with a traceback instead of printing usage.

Updated
  toolchain.md            ddc added (single-binary dex->Java with query subcommands,
                          with measured timings and its real limits); "not on PATH is
                          not not-installed" with the search commands; which signer
                          to use and why jarsigner breaks alignment
  repack-and-sign.md      alignment requirement and its arithmetic; dex header
                          recompute; jarsigner hazard; vendor install interception
                          ([N] with no symbolic constant -> root pm install); the
                          installer can keep owning the screen after an install
  recon.md                resolve package identity from a tool, not from hand-read
                          AXML strings (a wrong package sends all later device queries
                          nowhere); snapshot the config surface during recon
  long-task-discipline.md captures you never looked at are not evidence (incl. the
                          consistent-but-wrong-window variant); long-context decay and
                          the record shape that survives it
  dynamic-frida.md        when live attach cannot work at all: static instrumentation,
                          static read, and self-recorded evidence, with the control
                          build caveat each one carries
  ad-removal.md           server-driven config is usually the EASIEST case, not the
                          hardest; a three-way zero result is a positive finding;
                          scope note on local brand splash vs promotional content
  pitfalls.md             P37 stale dex header checksum, P38 [-124] alignment,
                          P39 bare-numeric install failure, P40 wrong-window evidence,
                          P41 inverted branch polarity, P42 decode desynchronisation
  SKILL.md, README.md     symptom index, reference/script indexes and requirements
                          updated for all of the above
2026-09-20 02:05:41 +08:00

134 lines
5.0 KiB
Python

#!/usr/bin/env python3
# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
"""Byte-level, in-place patch of a string constant inside a dex — no smali round-trip.
Why not a smali round-trip: a disassemble -> reassemble of a whole tree can damage
R8-optimized output in ways the class table does not show. Observed symptom: a synthetic
access bridge lost its interface/class relationship, producing
IncompatibleClassChangeError ("Found interface X, but class was expected") at runtime even
though class_defs and access_flags looked untouched. See references/pitfalls.md P3.
What this script does instead (zero structural change to the dex):
1. Replaces the target string with another of **exactly equal byte length**. Equal length
keeps the string_data_item uleb128 length prefix unchanged, so offsets, indices and
every table stay exactly where they were.
2. Recomputes the dex header signature (SHA-1, from offset 32) and checksum (adler32,
from offset 12).
Use only when the replacement can be equal-length. Otherwise use a method-level dex API
rewrite (references/dex-patching.md, technique 1).
Usage: python dex_strpatch.py <in.dex> <out.dex> <old_str> <new_str>
Requires len(new) == len(old) in UTF-8 bytes, and exactly one occurrence of old in the dex.
"""
import hashlib
import struct
import sys
import zlib
def _uleb128(data, off):
result = 0
shift = 0
while True:
b = data[off]
off += 1
result |= (b & 0x7F) << shift
if not (b & 0x80):
break
shift += 7
return result, off
def _read_strings(data):
off = struct.unpack('<I', data[0x3C:0x40])[0]
size = struct.unpack('<I', data[0x38:0x3C])[0]
out = []
for i in range(size):
sdata_off = struct.unpack('<I', data[off + i * 4: off + i * 4 + 4])[0]
n, p = _uleb128(data, sdata_off)
out.append((sdata_off, bytes(data[p:p + n])))
return out
def _order_ok(data, off, ob, nb):
"""Check whether replacing `ob` with `nb` still satisfies the string_ids ordering rule.
Note: string_ids stores the offset of each string_data_item — i.e. the position of the
**length prefix** (a few bytes ahead of the UTF-8 payload), not of the text itself — so
matching by string-data offset directly is not possible; this matches the entry by
content instead.
"""
entries = _read_strings(data)
idx = None
for i, (_sdata_off, raw) in enumerate(entries):
if raw == ob:
idx = i
break
if idx is None:
print('[order] target string not found in string_ids, skip check')
return True
prev = entries[idx - 1][1] if idx > 0 else None
nxt = entries[idx + 1][1] if idx + 1 < len(entries) else None
if prev is not None and nb <= prev:
print('[order] FAIL: new %r <= prev %r' % (nb, prev))
return False
if nxt is not None and nb >= nxt:
print('[order] FAIL: new %r >= next %r' % (nb, nxt))
return False
print('[order] OK: %r < %r < %r' % (prev, nb, nxt))
return True
def main():
if len(sys.argv) > 1 and sys.argv[1] in ('-h', '--help'):
print(__doc__)
return 0
if len(sys.argv) < 5:
print('error: needs 4 arguments, got %d\n' % (len(sys.argv) - 1))
print(__doc__)
return 2
src, dst, old, new = sys.argv[1], sys.argv[2], sys.argv[3], sys.argv[4]
ob, nb = old.encode('utf-8'), new.encode('utf-8')
if len(ob) != len(nb):
print('[FAIL] length mismatch: %d vs %d (must be equal)' % (len(ob), len(nb)))
return 1
data = bytearray(open(src, 'rb').read())
if data[:8] != b'dex\n035\x00' and data[:4] != b'dex\n':
print('[warn] unexpected magic: %r' % bytes(data[:8]))
n = data.count(ob)
print('[info] occurrences of %r = %d' % (old, n))
if n != 1:
print('[FAIL] expected exactly 1 occurrence')
return 1
off = data.find(ob)
# The dex spec requires string_ids to be ordered by string content. An equal-length
# replacement moves no offset, but it does change where this entry sits in that ordering
# — and once it lands out of order the whole dex is rejected by the ClassLoader
# (symptom: ClassNotFoundException naming the Application class). So validate the
# interval before writing.
if not _order_ok(data, off, ob, nb):
print('[FAIL] replacement would break string_ids ordering. '
'Pick a string that stays between its two neighbours.')
return 1
data[off:off + len(ob)] = nb
print('[ok] patched at offset 0x%x: %r -> %r' % (off, old, new))
# signature = SHA-1 over data[32:], stored at 12..32
sig = hashlib.sha1(bytes(data[32:])).digest()
data[12:32] = sig
# checksum = adler32 over data[12:], stored at 8..12 (little endian)
chk = zlib.adler32(bytes(data[12:])) & 0xFFFFFFFF
data[8:12] = struct.pack('<I', chk)
print('[ok] signature=%s checksum=0x%08x' % (sig.hex(), chk))
open(dst, 'wb').write(bytes(data))
print('[ok] wrote %s (%d bytes)' % (dst, len(data)))
return 0
if __name__ == '__main__':
sys.exit(main())