Introduction
Reverse Engineering
Reverse Engineering in the context of mobile app penetration testing refers to the process of analyzing an application’s code and behavior to understand its inner workings, identify security vulnerabilities, and exploit flaws. It involves decompiling or disassembling the app to examine its components and functionality, typically with the goal of identifying weaknesses that could be exploited by attackers.
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Disassembling APK/IPA Files: The first step in reverse engineering is decompiling the mobile app's binary files (APK for Android or IPA for iOS) to inspect the code. Tools like ApkTool, JADX, and IDA Pro can be used for this purpose.
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Reconstructing Source Code: Once the app is decompiled, the reverse engineer tries to reconstruct the source code (or a close approximation) to understand its logic.