Description

Detects when Android WebView implementations are configured to allow unsafe access to local files on the device filesystem. This creates a security risk where malicious web content loaded in the WebView could potentially access sensitive local files or exploit file-based vulnerabilities.

Detection Strategy

• Check if Android WebView is imported in the source code

• Look for WebView configuration method calls that control file access (like setAllowFileAccess)

• Verify if these methods are called with parameters that enable unrestricted file access

• Flag cases where file access is enabled without proper restrictions or security checks

Vulnerable code example

import android.webkit.WebView;
import android.webkit.WebSettings;

public class VulnerableWebView {
    public void configureWebView() {
        WebView webView = new WebView(context);
        WebSettings settings = webView.getSettings();
        ...

✅ Secure code example

import android.webkit.WebView;
import android.webkit.WebSettings;

public class SecureWebView {
    public void configureWebView() {
        WebView webView = new WebView(context);
        WebSettings settings = webView.getSettings();
        ...