Android Secure Flag Allow Screenshots
This plugin sets the FLAGSECURE flag in Android (which also prevents manual screenshots from being taken). Read more about the plugin here. Disable screenshots. To disable the screenshots in your app, use the disable method provided by the plugin. Note that the script needs to be executed during of after the deviceready event of cordova.
This question already has an answer here:.6 answersAs per, Android apps using FLAGSECURE in their activities are protected from screenshots being taken by the system. You get a blank file when using screencap and some other screenshot apps, and this error when using the hardware buttons:Can't take screenshot due to limited storage space, or it isn't allowed by the app or your organization.However, this is not a hard guarantee. In Android Studio, I can still take screenshots of such 'secure' apps with the button pointed out in.I took a look through the Android Studio source code, and the screenshot is acquired through a framebuffer: request to ADB, which in turn uses screencap.
Before I go looking through source for more info on how this works for adb but not for a root terminal and a possible 'developer' solution, I thought I should ask: Has anyone already figured out what's happening behind the scenes here and can an end-user make use of it? Ideally, without needing a PC.My device is rooted, so I'm open to apps/commands/etc. That require root (or having USB Debugging enabled). I've tried a few screenshot apps from pre-Android-2.3 that use root, but none of them still work (presumably due to how the framebuffer is now protected).
Summary — TL, DRApps on Android and some platform services are able to capture other apps’s screens by using MediaProjection API. Because of the way this API implements “securing” sensitive screens, there exist some possible security issues. The best way to secure your Android app is to use on sensitive screens and DO NOT use the virtual keyboard.
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MediaProjection APISince Android 5.0, there exists that allows apps to record videos and take screenshots of screens belonging to other apps. The API is described as follows:Android 5.0 lets you add screen capturing and screen sharing capabilities to your app with the new android.media.projection APIs. This functionality is useful, for example, if you want to enable screen sharing in a video conferencing app.
The new createVirtualDisplay method allows your app to capture the contents of the main screen (the default display) into a Surface object, which your app can then send across the network. The API only allows capturing non-secure screen content, and not system audio. To begin screen capturing, your app must first request the user’s permission by launching a screen capture dialog using an Intent obtained through the createScreenCaptureIntent method.(On Android versions prior to 5, there are other methods such as undocumented APIs, and ADB, we are focusing on Android 5+)This API also drives several other functions in the OS:. screenshots. to other displays.
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Google Play Games, video recording feature. TakingAll of these functions as well as the MediaProjection API can take screenshots and videos of other apps. For apps to use the API, is required, for platform features, no special permission is needed. Additionally, any applications signed by the system key (Google apps) can use this API without permission as well.A good open source example of an application that uses the API can be found here:Secure and non-secure contentAs mentioned in the Google docs above, “the API only allows capturing non-secure screen content”. What exactly is “secure” and “non-secure” content?This refers to a special flag which can be applied to views in Android, called FLAGSECURE.
In Android docs as follows:Treat the content of the window as secure, preventing it from appearing in screenshots or from being viewed on non-secure displaysSetting this flag on Android view will prevent screenshots from being taken manually, and any other app or platform service will show a black screen. This functionality is not global for the entire app, but can be set on specific screens which can be more sensitive, and not set on others. There is no other way or permission that can mark an entire app or any part of it from being excepted from screen capture or recording.NOTE: Even on views marked with FLAGSECURE, the virtual keyboard is ALWAYS visible. This is due to a known Android bug which Google has so far refused to fix:How screen capture really works in AndroidThe term “secure” as used in this context does not mean that the content of the app cannot be captured, rather that it cannot be “viewed on non-secure displays”. This is because screen capture and the concept of secure / non-secure isn’t what developers may think it is.Behind the scenes, this API and related platform services use the concept of Casting (similar to AirPlay). Apps that capture screenshots and record videos, must create a virtual display to which then the device content is cast to. The FLAGSECURE flag is also not used for security but rather means copyrighted content in context of DRM and displays — i.e.
Secure content would be something like a DVD, and a secure display would be an HDTV.This is clear on the device itself — when an app begins to record the screen, the cast icon is turned on in the notification bar. This is also clear from the Android source code and:Display flag: Indicates that the display has a secure video output and supports compositing secure surfaces. If this flag is set then the display device has a secure video output and is capable of showing secure surfaces. It may also be capable of showing protected buffers. If this flag is not set then the display device may not have a secure video output; the user may see a blank region on the screen instead of the contents of secure surfaces or protected buffers.That would means that an Android device casting to a DRM-protected display like a TV would always display sensitive screens, since the concept of secure really means “copyrighted”. For apps, Google forestalled this issue by preventing apps not signed by the system key from creating virtual “secure” displays, but not for physical devices. There is also an existing Android bug asking for the concept of DRM and screen security to be separated into different flags:Security issues with the current APIFirst of all, a basic foundation of mobile app security is a clear separation between apps.
One Android app is should never able to read the preferences, data or capture cloud notifications of another app. This paradigm breaks down in case of screen capture/recording. An app gaining access to the MediaProjection API or any of the platform services using it, is able to capture screen output from other apps including PIN numbers, passwords, credit card numbers, etc.Second, by using a flag used for marking copyrighted content, it would make it easier to subvert the system. Some ways this can be subverted include:.
Gaining permissions to create a virtual display marked as secure would show all secure content. Attack vectorsThere are several possible avenues of attack which would result in an app being installed on a user’s phone recording their app activity.