(#) Application specifies the device root directory !!! WARNING: Application specifies the device root directory This is a warning. Id : `ExposedRootPath` Summary : Application specifies the device root directory Severity : Warning Category : Security Platform : Android Vendor : Google - Android 3P Vulnerability Research Contact : https://github.com/google/android-security-lints Feedback : https://github.com/google/android-security-lints/issues Min : Lint 4.1 Compiled : Lint 8.0 and 8.1 Artifact : [com.android.security.lint:lint](com_android_security_lint_lint.md.html) Since : 1.0.1 Affects : Resource files Editing : This check runs on the fly in the IDE editor See : https://goo.gle/ExposedRootPath Implementation : [Source Code](https://github.com/google/android-security-lints/tree/main/checks/src/main/java/com/example/lint/checks/MisconfiguredFileProviderDetector.kt) Tests : [Source Code](https://github.com/google/android-security-lints/tree/main/checks/src/test/java/com/example/lint/checks/MisconfiguredFileProviderDetectorTest.kt) Copyright Year : 2023 Allowing the device root directory in the `FileProvider` configuration provides arbitrary access to files and folders for attackers, thereby increasing the attack surface. !!! Tip This lint check has an associated quickfix available in the IDE. (##) Example Here is an example of lint warnings produced by this check: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~text res/xml/file_paths.xml:5:Warning: Do not use as it provides arbitrary access to device files and folders [ExposedRootPath] <root-path name="root" path="/"/> --------------------------------- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here is the source file referenced above: `res/xml/file_paths.xml`: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~xml linenumbers <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <paths xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"> <files-path name="my_images" path="images/"/> <files-path name="my_docs" path="docs/"/> <root-path name="root" path="/"/> </paths> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You can also visit the [source code](https://github.com/google/android-security-lints/tree/main/checks/src/test/java/com/example/lint/checks/MisconfiguredFileProviderDetectorTest.kt) for the unit tests for this check to see additional scenarios. The above example was automatically extracted from the first unit test found for this lint check, `MisconfiguredFileProviderDetector.testWhenRootPathUsedInConfig_showsWarningAndQuickFix`. To report a problem with this extracted sample, visit https://github.com/google/android-security-lints/issues. (##) Including !!! This is not a built-in check. To include it, add the below dependency to your project. This lint check is included in the lint documentation, but the Android team may or may not agree with its recommendations. ``` // build.gradle.kts lintChecks("com.android.security.lint:lint:1.0.3") // build.gradle lintChecks 'com.android.security.lint:lint:1.0.3' // build.gradle.kts with version catalogs: lintChecks(libs.com.android.security.lint.lint) # libs.versions.toml [versions] com-android-security-lint-lint = "1.0.3" [libraries] # For clarity and text wrapping purposes the following declaration is # shown split up across lines, but in TOML it needs to be on a single # line (see https://github.com/toml-lang/toml/issues/516) so adjust # when pasting into libs.versions.toml: com-android-security-lint-lint = { module = "com.android.security.lint:lint", version.ref = "com-android-security-lint-lint" } ``` 1.0.3 is the version this documentation was generated from; there may be newer versions available. [Additional details about com.android.security.lint:lint](com_android_security_lint_lint.md.html). (##) Suppressing You can suppress false positives using one of the following mechanisms: * Adding the suppression attribute `tools:ignore="ExposedRootPath"` on the problematic XML element (or one of its enclosing elements). You may also need to add the following namespace declaration on the root element in the XML file if it's not already there: `xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"`. * Using a special `lint.xml` file in the source tree which turns off the check in that folder and any sub folder. A simple file might look like this: ```xml <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <lint> <issue id="ExposedRootPath" severity="ignore" /> </lint> ``` Instead of `ignore` you can also change the severity here, for example from `error` to `warning`. You can find additional documentation on how to filter issues by path, regular expression and so on [here](https://googlesamples.github.io/android-custom-lint-rules/usage/lintxml.md.html). * In Gradle projects, using the DSL syntax to configure lint. For example, you can use something like ```gradle lintOptions { disable 'ExposedRootPath' } ``` In Android projects this should be nested inside an `android { }` block. * For manual invocations of `lint`, using the `--ignore` flag: ``` $ lint --ignore ExposedRootPath ...` ``` * Last, but not least, using baselines, as discussed [here](https://googlesamples.github.io/android-custom-lint-rules/usage/baselines.md.html).