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android:allowBackup query documentation
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<!DOCTYPE qhelp PUBLIC
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"-//Semmle//qhelp//EN"
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"qhelp.dtd">
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<qhelp>
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<overview>
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<p>The Android manifest file defines configuration settings for Android
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applications. In this file, the <code>android:allowBackup</code> attribute of
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the <code>application</code> element can be used to define whether or not the
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application can have automatic backups.</p>
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<p>Enabling backups may allow an attacker to extract sensitive data. Therefore,
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it is advised to set <code>android:allowBackup</code> to <code>false</code> if
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your application uses any sensitive data.</p>
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</overview>
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<recommendation>
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<p>For Android applications which process sensitive data, set the
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<code>android:allowBackup</code> setting to <code>false</code> in the manifest
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file.</p>
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<p>Note: Since Android 6.0 (Marshmallow), applications default to participating
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in automatic backups. Therefore, it is necessary to explicitly disable backups.
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</p>
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</recommendation>
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<example>
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<p>In the two examples below, the <code>android:allowBackup</code> setting is enabled:</p>
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<sample src="AllowBackupTrue.xml" />
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<sample src="AllowBackupEmpty.xml"/>
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<p>A corrected version explicity sets <code>android:allowBackup</code> to <code>false</code>:</p>
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<sample src="AllowBackupFalse.xml"/>
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</example>
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<references>
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<li>
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Android Documentation:
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<a href="https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/data/autobackup#EnablingAutoBackup">Back up user data with Auto Backup</a>
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</li>
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<li>
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OWASP Mobile Security Testing Guide:
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<a href="https://github.com/OWASP/owasp-mstg/blob/b7a93a2e5e0557cc9a12e55fc3f6675f6986bb86/Document/0x05d-Testing-Data-Storage.md#backups">
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Android Backups
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</a>
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</li>
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</references>
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</qhelp>

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