attack-tree.md

Attack Tree Analysis for wasabeef/recyclerview-animators

Objective: Compromise application functionality or user experience by exploiting vulnerabilities or weaknesses introduced by the recyclerview-animators library.

Attack Tree Visualization

• [CRITICAL NODE] Root Goal: Compromise Application via RecyclerView-Animators
  • [AND] [CRITICAL NODE] Exploit Library Weaknesses
    • [OR] [CRITICAL NODE] Denial of Service (DoS)
      • [AND] [HIGH RISK PATH] [CRITICAL NODE] Resource Exhaustion via Animation Overload
        • [HIGH RISK PATH] Trigger Excessive Animations
          • [HIGH RISK PATH] Rapidly Update RecyclerView Data
  • [OR] [HIGH RISK PATH] [CRITICAL NODE] Exploit Dependency Vulnerabilities (Indirectly via Library)
    • [HIGH RISK PATH] Vulnerable Android Support/AppCompat Libraries
      • [HIGH RISK PATH] Outdated Support Libraries

Attack Tree Path: [CRITICAL NODE] Root Goal: Compromise Application via RecyclerView-Animators

• This is the overarching objective of the attacker. Success means achieving some level of compromise within the application by leveraging weaknesses related to the recyclerview-animators library.

Attack Tree Path: [CRITICAL NODE] Exploit Library Weaknesses

• This critical node represents the attacker's strategy to directly target vulnerabilities or weaknesses inherent in the recyclerview-animators library itself. This is a major attack vector branch.

Attack Tree Path: [CRITICAL NODE] Denial of Service (DoS)

• This critical node represents a specific type of attack aimed at disrupting the application's availability or performance. A successful DoS attack makes the application unusable or significantly degrades user experience.

Attack Tree Path: [HIGH RISK PATH] [CRITICAL NODE] Resource Exhaustion via Animation Overload

• Attack Vector: This high-risk path focuses on overwhelming the application's resources (CPU, memory, UI thread) by triggering an excessive number of animations. The recyclerview-animators library, designed to enhance UI with animations, can become a tool for DoS if animations are abused.
• Likelihood: Medium - Applications with dynamic data and RecyclerViews are common, making them susceptible to this type of attack.
• Impact: Medium - Can lead to application slowdowns, UI freezes, Application Not Responding (ANR) errors, and a degraded user experience.
• Effort: Low - Relatively easy to script or manually trigger rapid data updates or load large datasets.
• Skill Level: Low - Requires basic scripting knowledge or understanding of how to interact with the application.
• Detection Difficulty: Medium - Increased resource usage might be detectable through monitoring, but could be mistaken for normal application load if not carefully analyzed.

Attack Tree Path: [HIGH RISK PATH] Trigger Excessive Animations

• Attack Vector: This path is a direct step towards Resource Exhaustion. The attacker aims to make the application perform a very large number of animations simultaneously or in rapid succession, exceeding its processing capacity.
• Likelihood: Medium - Directly linked to the "Resource Exhaustion via Animation Overload" path, sharing similar likelihood.
• Impact: Medium - Contributes to application slowdowns, UI freezes, and DoS conditions.
• Effort: Low - Achievable through various methods like rapid data updates or loading large datasets.
• Skill Level: Low - Basic understanding of application interaction is sufficient.
• Detection Difficulty: Medium - Similar detection difficulty as "Resource Exhaustion via Animation Overload".

Attack Tree Path: [HIGH RISK PATH] Rapidly Update RecyclerView Data

• Attack Vector: This is a specific technique to trigger excessive animations. By continuously and rapidly updating the data displayed in a RecyclerView that uses recyclerview-animators, the attacker forces the library to generate and execute animations for each data change.
• Likelihood: Medium - Many applications use RecyclerViews with dynamic data that can be manipulated by an attacker (e.g., through API calls, user input).
• Impact: Medium - Directly leads to UI thread overload, animation overload, and DoS symptoms.
• Effort: Low - Easily scriptable data updates can be sent to the application.
• Skill Level: Low - Basic scripting skills are sufficient to automate data updates.
• Detection Difficulty: Medium - Increased network traffic and resource usage related to data updates might be detectable, but needs correlation with performance degradation.

Attack Tree Path: [CRITICAL NODE] Exploit Dependency Vulnerabilities (Indirectly via Library)

• This critical node represents an indirect attack vector. Instead of directly exploiting recyclerview-animators, the attacker targets vulnerabilities in its dependencies, specifically the Android Support/AppCompat libraries. If recyclerview-animators relies on vulnerable parts of these dependencies, it can indirectly expose the application.

Attack Tree Path: [HIGH RISK PATH] Vulnerable Android Support/AppCompat Libraries

• Attack Vector: This high-risk path focuses on exploiting known vulnerabilities in the Android Support/AppCompat libraries that recyclerview-animators depends on. Using outdated or vulnerable versions of these libraries creates an entry point for attackers.
• Likelihood: Medium - Outdated dependencies are a common vulnerability in software projects, including Android applications. Developers sometimes lag behind on updates.
• Impact: Medium to High - The impact depends heavily on the specific vulnerability in the outdated library. It could range from Denial of Service to Remote Code Execution, potentially allowing full application compromise or data breaches.
• Effort: Low - Publicly known vulnerabilities and sometimes readily available exploits exist for common dependency vulnerabilities.
• Skill Level: Low to Medium - Exploiting known vulnerabilities often requires moderate skill, but pre-made exploits can lower the skill barrier.
• Detection Difficulty: Easy - Vulnerability scanners and dependency checkers can easily identify outdated libraries and known vulnerabilities in them.

Attack Tree Path: [HIGH RISK PATH] Outdated Support Libraries

• Attack Vector: This is the most direct path within the dependency vulnerability branch. The attacker relies on the application using outdated versions of Android Support/AppCompat libraries.
• Likelihood: Medium - As mentioned before, using outdated dependencies is a common issue.
• Impact: Medium to High - Same as "Vulnerable Android Support/AppCompat Libraries," dependent on the specific vulnerability.
• Effort: Low - Identifying outdated libraries is straightforward, and exploits might be readily available.
• Skill Level: Low to Medium - Similar skill level as "Vulnerable Android Support/AppCompat Libraries."
• Detection Difficulty: Easy - Dependency scanning tools make detection trivial.