[Q] OEM Apps Filesystem Access Limitations - Windows Phone 8 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello,
can an OEM App access 3rd parties app sandbox content? Is there any specific capabilities ?
Thanks,
MaX

m4xp0w3r said:
Hello,
can an OEM App access 3rd parties app sandbox content? Is there any specific capabilities ?
Thanks,
MaX
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
they can access to your apps Isolated Storage directly using ID_CAP_INTEROPSERVICES
if you mean other thing please let me know .

Well, Interopservices is kind of the opposite of "directly" - it's more like "they can tell some system service to look in your folder, and report back what it sees, if there is any service available that supports doing that" - but I believe OEM apps can gain the ability to read app install locations (by enumerating the apps using ID_CAP_OEM_DEPLOYMENT and then accessing the InstallLocation property of each Package, which returns a StorageFolder). Not sure about accessing data, though.

GoodDayToDie said:
Well, Interopservices is kind of the opposite of "directly" - it's more like "they can tell some system service to look in your folder, and report back what it sees, if there is any service available that supports doing that" - but I believe OEM apps can gain the ability to read app install locations (by enumerating the apps using ID_CAP_OEM_DEPLOYMENT and then accessing the InstallLocation property of each Package, which returns a StorageFolder). Not sure about accessing data, though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ID_CAP_DEPLOYMENT only returns store installed apps not Sideloaded apps .
I think they can use also storageFolder.GetfoldersFromPathAsync(String Path)
to get all apps folders and checking them is so easy isn't it ?
apps are install in some well known folders (like D:\WPSystem\Apps) so get folders of them can't be hard
oh , could you please check this too : ?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/windows-phone-8/help/control-keyboard-entery-silverlight-t2957927
thanks

Related

Idea for general (all phone brands) interop bypass (NOT UNLOCK) - but can it be done?

MOD EDIT: Thread closed by OP's request.
If you have used reker's proxy, you will notice the "by @reker" entry on top of the list with search results. If we could do the same with the SamWP8 tool (and link his app to a similar app page), maybe we could bypass the interop unlock requirement (the error you receive if you try to sideload a app with interop capabilities on a non-interop unlocked phone) because apps installed in the store don't get this check (as compu829 demonstrated by saying the original Microsoft youtube app contained the ID_CAP_MEDIALIB_PHOTO_FULL entry in the WMAppManifest.xml, and how could you install this app on phones without having an interop-unlock, exactly : the app was installed through the store).
Correct me if I'm wrong, I'm still learning how the WP OS is build and how it functions.
To admins, I can't post this in the Windows Phone 8 Development and Hacking thread because I don't have the required 10 posts yet.
Seems like a feasible idea, I'll take a look on how the store works but I think the XAP's still need to be signed by a trusted root to this works.
I'll post any updates here as I can't post on dev section x.x
This idea is older than WP8, and it doesn't work. First of all, the apps themselves (as opposed to the data about them) are delivered over an encrypted channel that uses certificate pinning; we can't intercept or modify it. Second, the Store will only install Microsoft-signed (and probably only DRMed) apps. Unsigned apps failed to install through this channel back on WP7. Third, even if we could install the apps this way, hey would still be unsigned. The OS would thus treat them as developer apps. Developer apps on phones where the MaxUnsignedApp registry value is less than 300 are limited to the standard third-party app capabilities, meaning no INTEROPSERVICES or similar.
By all means, go ahead and poke at it - WP8 has surprised me before with weaknesses it has relative to WP7 - but don't expect this to work even if you get past the first issue (which *does* exist on WP8).
Did someone contact reker? We need to figure out how he did this. I can't tell if he succeeded into linking an app to the custom app page because when I click install, I get an error message : "This app is not available for your region", maybe I need to change my region to China and try again.
@GoodDayToDie : Won't the phone be tricked by the store installation, thinking it's an encrypted app? Does it matter whether the app is encrypted or not if someone manages to link an app to a custom app page, because Windows Phone app weren't always encrypted to my recollection (this may predate the WP8 era, if so we're screwed ). And if it matters, can we encrypt the app ourselves by using a encryption method like AES, SHA, MD5, ... ? Unlikely hypothesis, but if someone would succeed in doing all this, could the SamWP8 tool be used to increase the HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Microsoft\DeviceReg\Install MaxUnsignedApp value beyond 300 to unlock interop capabilities? Are the EnableAllSideloading.xap and Bootstapper.xap also usable on other WP than Samsung or do they need to be recoded to work on WP of other manufacturers?
EnableAllSideloading.xap and Bootstapper.xap depends on Samsung diagnosis tool and it's RPC server that runs on LocalSystem account that has "unlimited" registry access, it's not available on other manufacturers.
Tonight I will start my experiments on it.
greenboxal said:
EnableAllSideloading.xap and Bootstapper.xap depends on Samsung diagnosis tool and it's RPC server that runs on LocalSystem account that has "unlimited" registry access, it's not available on other manufacturers.
Tonight I will start my experiments on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was wondering how you could flash the bootloader of Android on the Ativ S as the Secure Boot made by Qualcomm is locked by a blown fuse (it's a hardware issue, not only a software issue you must deal with).
bruce142 said:
I was wondering how you could flash the bootloader of Android on the Ativ S as the Secure Boot made by Qualcomm is locked by a blown fuse (it's a hardware issue, not only a software issue you must deal with).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SecureBoot checks signature of the bootloader by a known public key, the case is that Samsumg uses the *same* key for android and wp8 bootloaders.
greenboxal said:
SecureBoot checks signature of the bootloader by a known public key, the case is that Samsumg uses the *same* key for android and wp8 bootloaders.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If this checks out, what does it mean, could we flash android on the Ativ S? Or could you even make a dual-boot scenario possible? Great find by the way, :good:.
bruce142 said:
If this checks out, what does it mean, could we flash android on the Ativ S? Or could you even make a dual-boot scenario possible? Great find by the way, :good:.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it's the same hardware as SGS3 Snapdragon 4 version. But let go back to the topic, if you have some question about it send me a PM or post on my R&D thread
greenboxal said:
Yes, it's the same hardware as SGS3 Snapdragon 4 version. But let go back to the topic, if you have some question about it send me a PM or post on my R&D thread
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't post yet in your R&D thread because I don't have the met the 10 post requirement yet.
Edit : I can install reker's "by @ reker" app when changing the region to China, and this is interesting (pasted directly from his WMAppManifest.xml) :
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
-<Deployment AppPlatformVersion="8.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/windowsphone/2012/deployment">
<DefaultLanguage xmlns="" code="zh-CN"/>
-<Languages xmlns="">
<Language code="zh-Hans"/>
</Languages>
-<App xmlns="" PublisherId="{9b1d1b5b-f206-4b27-a139-89659591061b}" IsBeta="false" PublisherID="{b259af64-2f7d-4a89-983f-836325480629}" Publisher="智机网_WPXAP" Description="智机市场官方版" Author="智机网_WPXAP" Genre="apps.normal" Version="2.0.0.0" RuntimeType="Silverlight" Title="智机市场" ProductID="{59bd999b-496e-4e05-afce-94b67ba6e862}">
<IconPath IsResource="false" IsRelative="true">Assets\ApplicationIcon.png</IconPath>
-<Capabilities>
<Capability Name="ID_CAP_IDENTITY_DEVICE"/>
<Capability Name="ID_CAP_IDENTITY_USER"/>
<Capability Name="ID_CAP_NETWORKING"/>
<Capability Name="ID_CAP_PUSH_NOTIFICATION"/>
<Capability Name="ID_CAP_SENSORS"/>
<Capability Name="ID_CAP_WEBBROWSERCOMPONENT"/>
<Capability Name="ID_CAP_APPOINTMENTS"/>
</Capabilities>
-<Tasks>
<DefaultTask Name="_default" ActivationPolicy="Resume" NavigationPage="MainPage.xaml"/>
</Tasks>
-<Tokens>
-<PrimaryToken TaskName="_default" TokenID="WpXapToken">
-<TemplateFlip>
<SmallImageURI IsResource="false" IsRelative="true">Assets\Tiles\FlipCycleTileSmall.png</SmallImageURI>
<Count>0</Count>
<BackgroundImageURI IsResource="false" IsRelative="true">Assets\Tiles\FlipCycleTileMedium.png</BackgroundImageURI>
<Title/>
<BackContent/>
<BackBackgroundImageURI/>
<BackTitle/>
<DeviceLockImageURI/>
<HasLarge/>
</TemplateFlip>
</PrimaryToken>
</Tokens>
-<Extensions>
<Protocol Name="wpxap" TaskID="_default" NavUriFragment="encodedLaunchUri=%s"/>
</Extensions>
-<ScreenResolutions>
<ScreenResolution Name="ID_RESOLUTION_WVGA"/>
<ScreenResolution Name="ID_RESOLUTION_WXGA"/>
<ScreenResolution Name="ID_RESOLUTION_HD720P"/>
</ScreenResolutions>
</App>
</Deployment>
@bruce142: The store may or may not care about the DRM - that was in place by the time WP8 came out, but WP7 didn't have it for a long time - but it absolutely cares about the signatures. More accurately, actually, the XAP install code (which the store invokes) cares about the signatures. There's no "tricking" it; the signature is quite plainly there, or it's not. You don't exactly have to look hard to find it. The app launch code *also* cares about signatures. Non-sideloaded apps won't have ID_CAP_DEVELOPERUNLOCK, which is a special capability automatically added to sideloaded apps to allow them to launch even though they don't have signatures. Without that capability (or rather, without the SID which the token of an app with that capability gets at chamber creation), the kernel will refuse to load the unsigned executable binaries.
GoodDayToDie said:
@bruce142: The store may or may not care about the DRM - that was in place by the time WP8 came out, but WP7 didn't have it for a long time - but it absolutely cares about the signatures. More accurately, actually, the XAP install code (which the store invokes) cares about the signatures. There's no "tricking" it; the signature is quite plainly there, or it's not. You don't exactly have to look hard to find it. The app launch code *also* cares about signatures. Non-sideloaded apps won't have ID_CAP_DEVELOPERUNLOCK, which is a special capability automatically added to sideloaded apps to allow them to launch even though they don't have signatures. Without that capability (or rather, without the SID which the token of an app with that capability gets at chamber creation), the kernel will refuse to load the unsigned executable binaries.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand, the app has to be signed before it can be uploaded to the store, but does the developer of an app not sign its app when he assembles it or does the store sign the app itself? I see no threshold here, as signing an app is not a problem, or is it? I still admire that reker managed to make an app page by using a proxy which isn't normally there and successfully linked an app to it, which I was able to download and it contained elevated capabilities, I thought the ID_CAP capabilities were all interop capabilities (correct me if I'm wrong). Could someone make the old version of the Samsung Diagnostic tool available this way which users with other WP than the Ativ S/Ativ S Neo might able to use to modify the MaxAppUnsigned value and unlock more capabilities, or is this impossible? If only we knew how reker did this, ...
bruce142 said:
I understand, the app has to be signed before it can be uploaded to the store, but does the developer of an app not sign its app when he assembles it or does the store sign the app itself? I see no threshold here, as signing an app is not a problem, or is it? I still admire that reker managed to make an app page by using a proxy which isn't normally there and successfully linked an app to it, which I was able to download and it contained elevated capabilities, I thought the ID_CAP capabilities were all interop capabilities (correct me if I'm wrong). Could someone make the old version of the Samsung Diagnostic tool available this way which users with other WP than the Ativ S/Ativ S Neo might able to use to modify the MaxAppUnsigned value and unlock more capabilities, or is this impossible? If only we knew how reker did this, ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ID_CAP's aren't all Interop capabilities, most of them are available for every app, and the ones you posted are, afaik, normal ones that don't need and Interop Unlock.
GoodDayToDie is right. His answer is very detail.
You may replace a xap with homebrew one in theory, but phone will never launch a store app without MS signature. Every single dll is signed by MS, and phone will check it.
Few questions and opinions:
The signature is used only for allowing the app to be installed on the device right?
Is the signature after added to the app a constant for the whole time or is it changing from time to time?
If the signature is used only for allowing an app to be installed, can we somehow make an virtual MS Server (Using FIddler for example), who can clone the real one and give us an offline signing of the app`s when installing them?
Can a signature be pulled off from an original installed app and the be put in to an another one?
cevi said:
Few questions and opinions:
The signature is used only for allowing the app to be installed on the device right?
Is the signature after added to the app a constant for the whole time or is it changing from time to time?
If the signature is used only for allowing an app to be installed, can we somehow make an virtual MS Server (Using FIddler for example), who can clone the real one and give us an offline signing of the app`s when installing them?
Can a signature be pulled off from an original installed app and the be put in to an another one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The signature is checked when running the application, every PE image on the device should have a valid digital signature.
You don't seem to understand how it works, the signature is any kind of hash, let's say, SHA256, of the entire file. This signature is encrypted with the signee private key. If you change one single bit of the file, the hash will change, and so the signature will be invalid.
There are few ways to exploit this kind of security, like generating a hash collision or breaking the private key, both would take million of years.
I do really don't understand the whole process I was just giving some noob suggestions.
It's strange for me that after the app is installed it doesn't require an active network to start.So I am wondering if it could be possible to trick the app to start somehow?
Sent from my Windows Phone 8S by HTC using Tapatalk
While suggestions are always welcome, you really should read up on digital signatures and how they work. @greenboxal's explanation seems like it might have gone over your head a bit... The fact that you didn't understand about ID_CAP_* also means you've probably never looked at WP development, or even looked at the manifest of a WP app, either; you may want to do some of that. Until you do so, it would be only by the sheerest crazy luck that you managed to hit on a solution, because you don't even know what you're actually trying to accomplish!
For example, it's pretty obvious why there's no need for a network connection to start an app, once it's installed. There's a license on WP apps, which is checked when the app is installed (requires Internet access) and is then valid for some time (never checked how long exactly, probably years though). The signatures are different. When the app is installed, the signing certificate (which contains the public key, but not the private key, of the keypair used to sign the app) is extracted from the app and checked to see whether it is trusted by Microsoft (the phone has Microsoft's certificates embedded in the OS; it doesn't need a network connection for this). When you try to launch the app, it checks to see whether the signatures on each binary (which are, as greenboxal mentioned, created by taking the cryptographically secure hash of the binary and then applying something like encryption to it using the private key) are valid (it applies the public key to the signature to get the signing hash back, and checks whether that hash still matches). We (developers) can't fake store signatures ourselves, because we don't have Microsoft's private keys. Therefore the phone wouldn't trust our signatures (make sure you read up on the concept of a "chain of trust" and the concepts of public key cryptography and public key infrastructure in general too) and would refuse to load the binaries. The process of verifying signatures is just a bunch of math once you've already got the public keys, and those are, as I said, extracted from the app at install (for individual apps) and stored in WP8 itself (for the Store-wide signing key); no need to access the network.
Thanks guys for clearing this up for me.I know that it`s not that simple as i say.Anyway, just keep up the good work.We the Noobs depend from you.
If you are not those who you really are i personally know that i will never buy a Windows Phone again.You are the reason for the MS`s profit.
Sorry again for jumping in into this "battle".
This thread is becoming way out of hand, question is asked and answered : adding a app via proxy which may interop-unlock other WP is not possible. Locking thread now.
PS : yay, ten posts.

Certification failed for valid app

I developed an app and I sent it to processing submission but every time get certification failed.
this is an errors list
https://dev.windowsphone.com/FileVendor/FileAsset?fileid=b66b4fae-c1d6-48e8-802b-86afa07a56f6
MS told that app crashes when they press the button, but for me on my device everything works well. I don't know what could be wrong?
Try it on both phone and emulator. Using the emu, try it on different resolutions, try it on different amounts of RAM , etc.
Did they give you any exception details? Use those to try and track down where it could be coming from (example: if it's a NPE, check everything that *could* be null, even if it *shouldn't* be).
I dont have emulator because my pc dont support slat.
I really dont know how to test my app because on my device works well and i dont have another wp8 device
cro.dev said:
I dont have emulator because my pc dont support slat.
I really dont know how to test my app because on my device works well and i dont have another wp8 device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try using Nokia Remote Device Access. They pretty mush have two or three of every Lumia device available.
Its free too!
Sent from my Lumia 928 (RM-860) using Tapatalk
Today my app finally submited to store but when I install it and open, when I try to log in it terminates. That was same error when my app certification failed. Microsoft told me that my app terminates when try to log in.
When I deploy my app on deployer it works like charm. But I dont know why same app not work when I install it from Store.
This is C# code in action when I press Log in button and app terminates
Code:
string zap;
if (cbZap.IsChecked.Value)
zap = "1";
else
zap = "0";
if (File.Exists("X.dat"))
File.Delete("X.dat");
using (StreamWriter sr = File.CreateText("X.dat"))
{
sr.WriteLine(string.Format("{0};{1};{2}", tbIme.Text, tbLozinka.Password, zap));
sr.Close();
}
//NavigationService.GoBack();
NavigationService.Navigate(new Uri("/MainPage.xaml", UriKind.Relative));
cro.dev said:
Today my app finally submited to store but when I install it and open, when I try to log in it terminates. That was same error when my app certification failed. Microsoft told me that my app terminates when try to log in.
When I deploy my app on deployer it works like charm. But I dont know why same app not work when I install it from Store.
This is C# code in action when I press Log in button and app terminates
Code:
string zap;
if (cbZap.IsChecked.Value)
zap = "1";
else
zap = "0";
if (File.Exists("X.dat"))
File.Delete("X.dat");
using (StreamWriter sr = File.CreateText("X.dat"))
{
sr.WriteLine(string.Format("{0};{1};{2}", tbIme.Text, tbLozinka.Password, zap));
sr.Close();
}
//NavigationService.GoBack();
NavigationService.Navigate(new Uri("/MainPage.xaml", UriKind.Relative));
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
go to the DEBUG menu >exceptions...
Tick al the check-boxes under "thrown";
uninstall the app from your device. Debug the app again, look for any unhandled exceptions.
mcosmin222 said:
go to the DEBUG menu >exceptions...
Tick al the check-boxes under "thrown";
uninstall the app from your device. Debug the app again, look for any unhandled exceptions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like everything works well. There is no problem in app when I deploy it with deployer. Only with app downloaded from Store I've got problems.
I actually have a guess about that...
You're writing files to the app's install folder. This works (bizarrely enough) on sideloaded apps. However, it's entirely possible that store apps might *not* have the required permissions to write to their install folders. In that case, your code would be throwing Access Denied errors, and (since you aren't handling exceptions, apparently...) crashing.
Also, you should always set the global exception handler (in App.xaml.cs, for C# XAML apps) to do something useful.
GoodDayToDie said:
I actually have a guess about that...
You're writing files to the app's install folder. This works (bizarrely enough) on sideloaded apps. However, it's entirely possible that store apps might *not* have the required permissions to write to their install folders. In that case, your code would be throwing Access Denied errors, and (since you aren't handling exceptions, apparently...) crashing.
Also, you should always set the global exception handler (in App.xaml.cs, for C# XAML apps) to do something useful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you for your tip. So where I would be able to write files then, because my app is based on writing and reading file.
... really? The isolated storage folder, like all the documentation around file handling on WP tells you. Writing files to an application's install directory has been a bad idea (and often not possible, unless you are running with more privileges than you should be) since before modern smartphones even existed.
You can do it using the normal System.IO classes, but there's actually an entire collection of classes (in System.IO.IsolatedStorage, see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/System.IO.IsolatedStorage(v=vs.95).aspx) explicitly for managing files in WP (and other Silverlight) apps. The IsolatedStorageFile class is the one with most of the info you'll be interested in.
GoodDayToDie said:
... really? The isolated storage folder, like all the documentation around file handling on WP tells you. Writing files to an application's install directory has been a bad idea (and often not possible, unless you are running with more privileges than you should be) since before modern smartphones even existed.
You can do it using the normal System.IO classes, but there's actually an entire collection of classes (in System.IO.IsolatedStorage, see http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/System.IO.IsolatedStorage(v=vs.95).aspx) explicitly for managing files in WP (and other Silverlight) apps. The IsolatedStorageFile class is the one with most of the info you'll be interested in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I forget to write that I found solution few hours ago. I found my answers here
http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/Upload...-to-save-and-read-text-file-from-windows-pho/
thanks. Everything works well now.

Accessing features in Windows phone 8(.1) development

When developing an application for desktop windows, there's always a way to access functionality - sometimes through back doors like the registry, etc... I'm developing an application for Windows Phone 8.1, but there are certain pieces of functionality that aren't exposed in the PRT APIset that is available to me. For example, we want to ensure that the user has password protection on the lock screen when using the application. There doesn't seem to be any associated APIs to readily use. So my question is, are there back door ways to do such things? How? Is there a way to access ALL system settings - like a registry or something of the like?
proch said:
When developing an application for desktop windows, there's always a way to access functionality - sometimes through back doors like the registry, etc... I'm developing an application for Windows Phone 8.1, but there are certain pieces of functionality that aren't exposed in the PRT APIset that is available to me. For example, we want to ensure that the user has password protection on the lock screen when using the application. There doesn't seem to be any associated APIs to readily use. So my question is, are there back door ways to do such things? How? Is there a way to access ALL system settings - like a registry or something of the like?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Another question would be - if something like intune can enforce lock screen password policies, shouldn't I be able to do it the same way that intune does it? If so, how? If not - why not?
It's not possible to check if user enabled lock screen password or not as far as I know
but if you want to made your app secure (because it may include important data)
you can create a password for your own application !
I did it in a little notepad app my password page allow user to set a password with all English and Persian Characters , numbers and special Chars like [email protected]#$ and etc.
Sent from my RM-994_eu_poland_1183 using Tapatalk
It's pretty easy to check, using the registry, but at least in 8.0 that's not allowed at all for store apps (your app would get rejected). I don't know if the rules changed for 8.1. There are ways to sneak past the store checks, but they could pull your app from the store if they ever found out. I know of at least three ways to access the registry APIs (4 in WP8.1) and two of them are pretty hard to detect unless somebody checks for them specifically... but they're the kind of technique that malware uses, so such checks may be in place.
I don't know what InTune is doing, specifically - I'd need to pull the app apart to see - but there are special application capabilities (not normally available to third-party developers) that can query and even set policies. Apps without those capabilities will get Access Denied if they try to use the same methods though, and normally you can't add those capabilities to your app.
GoodDayToDie said:
It's pretty easy to check, using the registry, but at least in 8.0 that's not allowed at all for store apps (your app would get rejected). I don't know if the rules changed for 8.1. There are ways to sneak past the store checks, but they could pull your app from the store if they ever found out. I know of at least three ways to access the registry APIs (4 in WP8.1) and two of them are pretty hard to detect unless somebody checks for them specifically... but they're the kind of technique that malware uses, so such checks may be in place.
I don't know what InTune is doing, specifically - I'd need to pull the app apart to see - but there are special application capabilities (not normally available to third-party developers) that can query and even set policies. Apps without those capabilities will get Access Denied if they try to use the same methods though, and normally you can't add those capabilities to your app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this great and detailed information. See, that's exactly what I'd do if I were developing a desktop app - since i know that intune does it, I'd figure out how intune does it and voila. I'm finally getting over the idea that the same methodologies apply to windows phone development.
For my own educational purposes (since I want to understand this platform better), I would really like to know specifically how you go about accessing the registry APIs (for example). If there's any way for you to describe any number of these methods, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks again!
My NativeAccess libraries (check my signature, or search on the forum or on Codeplex) contain an example of one way to access the registry. The code is open-source; you may use the libraries as-is (don't expect to get them into the store, though I won't stop you from trying), use the source code as a reference, or modify/build them yourself; the license is very liberal (MS Permissive). The functions I use are generally documented on MSDN, in the desktop APIs section; the phone has the same functions, although the DLL names are changed and the header files hide them.

Windows phone security- is there one and if so, how does it work?

Hi,
So, Android has a permission system which albeit somewhat flawed (malware can gain permissions not intended for it) and not very suitable for laymen (non rooted phones have to either accept all permissions or be denied from the app. In many programs people don't have the luxury of not using them) theoretically has merit. IOS has...well actually I'm not sure how it works security wise but I pressume it creates sandboxes for each app, layman wise it is reasonable since you (theoretically) can deny access for all programs to certain components (no need to jailbreak).
How does WP works?
Thank you.
Security is different, apps can't do as much as on android. But iOS is better in this, because capabilities are like in Android: you can see what the apps want prior to installing them, but blocking some of them isn't possible.
I am very saddened to hear this.
Is there an ability in place similar to Androids rooting?
Also, what do you mean by "apps can't do as much as on android"?
Thank you!
@th0mas96's post is technically *mostly* accurate but very confusing and doesn't actually answer your question at all.
The short version is that WP apps use a capability-and-sandbox system much like iOS and Android, with each app getting a sandbox that gives it read-only access to the app-specific install directory and the global system directory, read/write access to the app-specific data directory, and access to whatever other stuff is specified in the capabilities. Capabilities are currently all-or-nothing; you can't reject or disable any capability except by just not installing the app.
I could go into the technical implementation of the system a bit, but the short version is that WP8 apps use fairly standard NT (as in the NT kernel that is at the core of PC Windows versions) security features: each app has a unique token (rather than inheriting the token of the process that crated it, the way it normally works on PC but very much like how Windows Store apps work on Win8) which contains the app-specific Security IDentifier (SID) that gives access to the app directories, plus the SIDs of the various capabilities that the app has.
What @th0mas96 was talking about is that WP capabilities usable by third-party developers are much more restrictive than they are on Android. For example, Android allows an app have full read-write access to your contacts or to send SMS directly. WP8 doesn't allow that unless you use capabilities that are normally neither allowed on the store nor allowed in sideloaded apps (Microsoft's code can have them, of course - that's how the built-in SMS app works - but not Joe Random Dev). The downside of this is obvious; some app behaviors (like a full replacement for the SMS app or phone dialer) are not possible. The upside is that apps are *way* more limited in how malicious they can be; the most common way that Android malware makes money (remember, the vast majority of malware is for profit) is by sending SMS to "premium" numbers. On WP8, an app could *compose* such a message, but it couldn't *send* it for you (unless it had a capability that third-party apps normally can't have) so you'd have a chance to see what the app was doing and decide not to send that message after all.
This means that the ability to disable capabilities is much less important on WP8 than on Android.
Oh, then those restrictions are actually good news.
Aside from from your typical run-of-the-mill malware my main concern was actually privacy. I have a huge displeasure from apps like Whatsapp which on android takes a whole plethora of liberties and was hoping that perhaps some other system may contain their user data voracity and their ability to control the divice their on.
Is there any link in which I could see the full list of those restrictions?
I'm still downhearted from not having a more fine grained control of the system but maybe it still has it uses in some scenarios...
Also, thank you very much for your comprehensive explanation!
i found a tiny file stored inside some of the unbranded htc accord RUUs. its call disablewriteprotect.test. the only thing the file contains is a sentence stating write protection will be disabled until this file is removed. followed by a music note and some other symbol. so there you go thats how you make your entire htc 8x read and write. one file less than 1kb in size. ROOT!
but how can we flash this file. im still working on it. this file is located within the efi partition which also houses the ffuloader.efi, and severl other efi executables. check this post http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=53687985#post53687985
you wont find that on google search.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA Free mobile app
Window phone Security Issues
Your Windows Phone is secure by design. Many security features are turned on by default. For example, apps you download from the Windows Phone Store are tested by Microsoft and encrypted to make sure you don't accidentally install malicious software on your Windows phone.
Set a password
Setting up Kid's Corner
If you've ever handed your smartphone to a child, you know that they can quickly get into all sorts of apps and settings they shouldn't. No such worries with Kid's Corner, a place on your phone where your child can play with the games, apps, music and videos
Use the free Find My Phone service
Say yes to updates . check out more at Master Software Solutions - Windows Phone Update
grilledcheesesandwich said:
i found a tiny file stored inside some of the unbranded htc accord RUUs. its call disablewriteprotect.test. the only thing the file contains is a sentence stating write protection will be disabled until this file is removed. followed by a music note and some other symbol. so there you go thats how you make your entire htc 8x read and write. one file less than 1kb in size. ROOT!
but how can we flash this file. im still working on it. this file is located within the efi partition which also houses the ffuloader.efi, and severl other efi executables. check this post http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=53687985#post53687985
you wont find that on google search.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds interesting.
Not something I'd try )) but interesting.
Aman Raien said:
Your Windows Phone is secure by design. Many security features are turned on by default. For example, apps you download from the Windows Phone Store are tested by Microsoft and encrypted to make sure you don't accidentally install malicious software on your Windows phone.
Set a password
Setting up Kid's Corner
If you've ever handed your smartphone to a child, you know that they can quickly get into all sorts of apps and settings they shouldn't. No such worries with Kid's Corner, a place on your phone where your child can play with the games, apps, music and videos
Use the free Find My Phone service
Say yes to updates . check out more at Master Software Solutions - Windows Phone Update
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I pressume this is an advert for Master Software Solutions, but nevertheless I did google the term you suggested and got nil results. I also browsed the main site of the company itself but haven't found anything related, nor did I find anything on their facebook page.
Regardless, I checked out this Kids corner thing, it's cute but not really security related...
Thx anyway.

Extracting App Files - Help Desperately needed

Hi Folks - My Dad has a seriously ill and has been given conflicting and potentially negligent advice regarding his cancer treatment which my mum had recorded on her phone. All of these meetings we saved on her Windows 8.1 phone (Nokia Lumia 635) running Lumia Denim. Today the app corrupted and I am unable to access any of those files are they are stored locally in the app itself rather than being saved anywhere useful on the phone. Is there any way of access the windows OS and App files contained within that SD card in the hope I can extract and save the files to a USB thumb drive or more reliable medium.
I really appreciate any help any one can give.
Many thanks,
Nova
Bump
Bump - Anything anyone can do to help?
@Novastrike, first, you have chosen an incorrect forum for your request - it's definitely not an "Apps and games" (probably, better to ask in "Development and hacking").
Second, you've provided close to zero information: what app, what data?
It's possible to get access to the app's isolated storage on "interop-unlocked" handset with "full FS access" enabled but the data availability depends from many factors (like what if data encoded somehow etc.).
sensboston said:
@Novastrike, first, you have chosen an incorrect forum for your request - it's definitely not an "Apps and games" (probably, better to ask in "Development and hacking").
Second, you've provided close to zero information: what app, what data?
It's possible to get access to the app's isolated storage on "interop-unlocked" handset with "full FS access" enabled but the data availability depends from many factors (like what if data encoded somehow etc.).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@sensboston, Thank you for responding and apologies for posting in the wrong forum, I am not the most tech savvy person. In the world nor am I familiar with windows phone all that much.
The app is called voice recorder pro and is made by a Polish developer whose name escapes me. Is it easier to try and figure out whether the data is encoded or research how to interloper-unlock the handset. I have rooted android phones before so hope it requires a similar or lesser skill level.
Again thanks for responding!
@Novastrike, check this forum, hope, you'll find all you need for interop unlock and full fs access (you may also use my WPTweaker app from signature).
BTW, don't forget about pre-requisites: installed SDK/tools.
After successful unlocking and enabling full FS access, just plug your phone to PC and navigate to the apps isolated storages (I forgot exact location for WP8; on W10M it's located at c:/data/Users/DefApps/APPDATA/[APP_GUID], find your app (by browsing all subfolders named like "{1E51D223-2D05-4C25-907F-35E40DB416A5}" and copy recorded calls to PC.

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