Hook to Bypass Values in AndroidManifest.xml Hook Not Working

[DavidBerdik]

Hello all,

Yesterday, I posted a question here (#1187) asking for help with fixing an error with writing a module to hook a function. I fixed that issue, so commented on it and marked it as done, however I have a follow-up question: I thought my change from that question would override a value defined in the app's AndroidManifest.xml, however, that did not seem to happen, so I am now trying to hook parseBaseApplication to do it and it is not working. When I compile this and run it, I don't get any errors. The hook just simply never executes. Does anyone have any ideas as to why or what I can do to fix it?

try {
	XposedHelpers.findAndHookMethod(
			"android.content.pm.PackageParser",
			loadPackageParam.classLoader,
			"parseBaseApplication",
			"android.content.pm.PackageParser.Package",
			Resources.class, XmlResourceParser.class, int.class, String[].class,
			new XC_MethodHook() {
				@Override
				protected void afterHookedMethod(MethodHookParam param) throws Throwable {
					// Get the Package object that was passed as an argument...
					Package pkg = (Package) param.args[0];
					// ...extract the ApplicationInfo object from it.
					ApplicationInfo inf = (ApplicationInfo) XposedHelpers
							.getObjectField(pkg, "applicationInfo");
					// We know the constant for the flag, so apply it to privateFlags...
					final int PRIVATE_FLAG_ALLOW_AUDIO_PLAYBACK_CAPTURE  = 1 << 27;
					int privateFlags = (int) XposedHelpers.getObjectField(inf,
							"privateFlags");
					privateFlags |= PRIVATE_FLAG_ALLOW_AUDIO_PLAYBACK_CAPTURE;
					// Apply the updated privateFlags to ApplicationInfo, then the
					//  updated ApplicationInfo to Package.
					XposedHelpers.setObjectField(inf, "privateFlags", privateFlags);
					XposedHelpers.setObjectField(pkg, "applicationInfo", inf);
					XposedBridge.log("Hooked android.content.pm.parsing." +
							"ParsingPackageImpl#setAllowAudioPlaybackCapture()");
					XposedBridge.log("Hooked android.content.pm.PackageParser" +
							"#parseBaseApplication()");
				}
			}
	);
} catch (Throwable t) {
	XposedBridge.log(t);
}

Thank you in advance!

[DavidBerdik]

@yujincheng08 Could you please offer me some assistance?

[YumeMichi]

@DavidBerdik Sir you fixed this?

[DavidBerdik]

Unfortunately, no.

[buttercookie42]

I've had the same problem recently – I can't provide a complete solution, either, but two pointers:

• On more recent Android versions (don't ask me when exactly, at some point in the recent years after Pie), the Package Parser has been deprecated and at least for internal Framework usage replaced by a new set of classes, e.g. currently frameworks/base/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/pkg/parsing/ParsingPackageUtils.java)
• Likewise I have no idea how things used to work on older Android versions, but currently I have the impression that the manifest might only be read at installation time and then subsequently the parsed values (including any post-processing that might have happened) get cached somewhere, so for overriding on application launch instead of only installation time, you'd have to hook a different set of methods. (I've been looking to override the default max aspect ratio that gets applied to pre-O apps.)

[DavidBerdik]

Thank you for sharing this! Even if it's only a partial solution, I appreciate it!

In the two years since I posted this, I ended up delaying the project for which I needed this and have not had time to do further research. When time permits, I want to pick up that project starting with what you have shared here.

[kdejeqq]

Good, I'm glad you have this will.💪 The community must not be silent 💪💪 Le jeu. 14 déc. 2023, 19:29, David Berdik ***@***.***> a écrit :

…

Thank you for sharing this! Even if it's only a partial solution, I appreciate it! In the two years since I posted this, I ended up delaying the project for which I needed this and have not had time to do further research. When time permits, I want to pick up that project starting with what you have shared here. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#1190 (reply in thread)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AP4KDEMNPTRPO33GJH6HZC3YJNASBAVCNFSM5E6Y7R6KU5DIOJSWCZC7NNSXTOKENFZWG5LTONUW63SDN5WW2ZLOOQ5TOOBVGY3DMNY> . You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[DavidBerdik]

Well, it might be a little while before I have time to meaningfully dig in to it. Aside from this project, I have a backlog of other Android projects that I'd like to do some work on as well.