SafetyNet

SafetyNet[1] consists of several application programming interfaces (APIs) offered by the Google Play Services to support security sensitive applications and enforce DRM. Currently, these APIs include device integrity verification, app verification, recaptcha and web address verification. It is an extension of AVB2.0 and dm-verity.

Attestation

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The SafetyNet Attestation API,[2] one of the APIs under the SafetyNet umbrella, provides verification that the integrity of the device is not compromised.[3][4][5] In practice, non-official ROMs such as LineageOS fail the hardware attestation and thus restrict the user from using a non-compliant ROM while being able to use third-party apps (mainly banking) that require the API. Due to this, some consider this a monopolistic practice deterring the entrance of competing mobile operating systems in the market. [6]

Attestation requires a network connection for Google Play Services to connect to Google servers and validate the hardware signatures. Amongst the checks, the API looks for bootloader unlock status, ROM signature and kernel strings. Upon successful checks, Google Play will mark the device as Certified.

The SafetyNet Attestation API (one of the four APIs under the SafetyNet umbrella) has been deprecated.[7] As of 6 October 2023, Google expects to fully replace it with the Play Integrity API by the end of January 2025.[7][8] Like the SafetyNet APIs, the Play Integrity API is offered by Google Services and thus is not available on free Android environments (AOSP). Therefore, apps that require the API to be available may refuse to execute on AOSP builds.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "SafetyNet Overview". Android Developers.
  2. ^ "SafetyNet Attestation API". Android Developers.
  3. ^ Hoffman, Chris (4 February 2016). "SafetyNet Explained: Why Android Pay and Other Apps Don't Work on Rooted Devices". How-To Geek. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
  4. ^ "Google's dreaded SafetyNet hardware check has been spotted in the wild". Android Police. 2020-06-29. Retrieved 2021-09-11.
  5. ^ Ibrahim, Muhammad; Imran, Abdullah; Bianchi, Antonio (2021-06-24). "SafetyNOT". Proceedings of the 19th Annual International Conference on Mobile Systems, Applications, and Services. Virtual Event Wisconsin: ACM. pp. 150–162. doi:10.1145/3458864.3466627. ISBN 978-1-4503-8443-8.
  6. ^ Schwab, Andreas; Echeverria, Pablo Arias (24 March 2022). "Time to restore fairness and contestability in digital markets". www.euractiv.com.
  7. ^ a b "SafetyNet Deprecation Timeline". Android Developers. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
  8. ^ "Migrating from the SafetyNet Attestation API | Google Play". Android Developers.
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