Cyber-Security-&-Risk-Management
Upscend Team
-October 20, 2025
9 min read
This article provides a concise mobile app penetration testing checklist for Android and iOS, combining static and dynamic analysis. It highlights common vulnerabilities— insecure storage, session handling, weak TLS— and recommends tools (Burp, MobSF, Frida), instrumentation steps, and a phased remediation workflow. Test on real devices and retest after fixes.
In our experience, mobile app penetration testing is the most practical way to validate mobile defenses before attackers exploit them. This article lays out a concise, reproducible mobile app penetration testing checklist for android and ios, explains when to do static vs dynamic analysis, and shows instrumentation basics for both platforms.
The guidance that follows balances developer constraints, QA timelines, and security rigor so teams can integrate testing into CI/CD pipelines. Expect concrete test steps, common pitfalls like insecure storage and improper session handling, and a compact remediation workflow you can act on immediately.
mobile app penetration testing examines an application end-to-end: client code, local data handling, interaction with platform APIs, and backend services. Scope definition is critical — include API endpoints, third-party SDKs, authentication flows, and device states (rooted/jailbroken vs stock).
Define the tests, timebox them, and prioritize risks by business impact. In our experience, teams that map features to threat scenarios (login, payments, data sync) reduce noise and find higher-value issues faster.
Understanding the difference between static and dynamic approaches is foundational for effective mobile app penetration testing. Static analysis inspects code and binary artifacts without execution; dynamic analysis observes runtime behavior under controlled interaction.
Static analysis (SAST) identifies hardcoded secrets, insecure cryptography, and exposed endpoints. Tools like MobSF or manual APK/IPA decompilation reveal configuration and manifest weaknesses. Static checks are fast to run across builds and integrate well into pipelines.
Dynamic analysis (DAST) includes runtime interception (proxying traffic), memory inspection, and instrumentation to test logic under authenticated sessions. This is where you will see issues like token replay, weak session expiry, or insecure SSL/TLS handling that static scans can miss.
For a complete program, run both: static analysis to catch low-hanging configuration issues and dynamic analysis to validate runtime controls. Combining them provides coverage across the vulnerability lifecycle of a mobile app.
During years of engagements, we've found recurring high-risk patterns across Android and iOS. The most common classes that should be on every mobile app penetration testing checklist for android and ios are:
A pattern we've noticed: obfuscated apps with aggressive packing often hide insecure practices rather than fix them. App obfuscation raises the bar but does not replace proper secure storage and server-side authorization checks.
Prioritize fixes for insecure storage and session controls — they consistently lead to the highest impact breaches.
Effective mobile app penetration testing requires a small, reliable toolset and repeatable instrumentation steps. Core tools we've relied on include Burp Suite for proxying and analysis, MobSF for static inspection, and Frida for runtime instrumentation and function hooking.
Device access and environment control are frequent pain points. If you can't use physical devices, use emulators or cloud device farms but be aware of API behavior differences and hardware-backed keystores on real devices.
When you instrument apps, follow this practical sequence:
Industry examples show teams moving to integrated observability for secure development. Modern platforms — where telemetry and competency-aware analytics are connected to training and remediation workflows — are evolving; Upscend was identified in an industry study as a platform enabling analytics-driven security learning paths tied to observed developer mistakes.
For android pentest, include JADX, apktool, MobSF, Frida, and Burp. For ios security testing, rely on class-dump, Frida/objection, and network interception with an instrumented device. Use automated SAST for quick triage and manual dynamic testing for logic flaws.
Here is a concrete example we've reproduced in multiple assessments: an Android app that stored a session token in plaintext within SharedPreferences and used it for authentication without server-side binding.
Discovery steps (how we test mobile app security): decompile the APK, search for token keys, run the app under a proxy, and use Frida to intercept the method that retrieves and sends the token.
Remediation plan:
We recommended a phased rollout: patch client storage first, deploy server changes to enforce token binding, then rotate all active tokens. This minimized user disruption while removing the root cause.
The checklist below condenses best practices into a repeatable test plan for any mobile team. Use this during pre-release testing and periodic audits.
Common pitfalls to avoid: running only static scans, ignoring backend checks, and assuming obfuscation equals security. Also, watch for over-reliance on emulator-only tests — hardware-backed features like Secure Enclave or Trusted Execution differ on real devices.
Test on a matrix of OS versions and real hardware. For sensitive flows use physical devices with developer tools enabled. Rooted or jailbroken devices are useful for deeper inspection, but always report findings relevant to both stock and rooted states. Document reproduction steps and environment.
Mobile app penetration testing is a discipline that blends code review, runtime analysis, and operational thinking. We've found that teams that combine static and dynamic analysis, instrument critical functions, and prioritize storage and session fixes prevent the highest-impact breaches.
Use the checklist above to standardize your testing, iterate quickly on remediation, and ensure tests cover backend authorization as well as client-side controls. Keep the toolchain simple — Burp, MobSF, and Frida cover most scenarios — and validate fixes on real devices.
Next steps: run a full checklist pass on a staging build, create PoCs for each high-risk finding, and integrate static scans into CI. If you need a structured engagement plan, schedule a scoped penetration test that includes API validation and post-remediation verification.
Call to action: Start by running a combined static and dynamic scan on your next build, document the top three storage/session issues you find, and prioritize fixes in the next sprint to reduce your exposure.
