Android and iOS

Third-party SDK supply-chain risk

Code tampering, account abuse, data exposure and client manipulation.

Threats and abuse1 min readEditorial methods

A third-party SDK may process data and make connections with the application's privileges. Being a security product does not exempt it from supply, data and update-risk review.

Evaluation approach

Assess package integrity, version changes, outbound data and build effects. Signature or digest verification can support the integrity of the acquisition channel.

Application example

Compare a new SDK release's network domains and collected event fields with those of the prior release.

Limits and considerations

A familiar vendor name does not guarantee that every release behaves identically.

A dependency runs in the same process

Third-party SDKs can access application data and privileges. Security components also need inventory, licensing, update and data-flow review. Their product category is not proof of trustworthiness.

Compare new permissions, network destinations and native libraries between releases. Be able to identify affected application versions after a vendor incident. The delivery chain of a RASP-protected application needs its own protection.

Checks and decisions

  • Pin dependencies
  • Read release notes
  • Observe data flows

Account for the supply and operational dependencies introduced by a RASP integration.

Sources

The primary references above provide the technical basis. Example workflows and evaluation suggestions are this publication’s explanations, not independent test results for a particular product.