The Ultimate Guide to Mobile Application Penetration Testing (+ Free Checklist)

Companies in virtually every industry have their in-house mobile applications built by in-house and outsourced development teams.

While they have a tangible impact on the bottom line, the breakneck speed at which they’re developed presents security risks to organizations. 

With attackers increasingly targeting mobile applications, organizations are under increasing pressure to gain true visibility into attacks and vulnerabilities. 

This is where mobile application penetration testing enables continuous monitoring and proactive security measures. They emulate hackers’ behavior to target network security, client-side and server-side vulnerabilities, and API security across the mobile application ecosystem.

What is mobile application penetration testing?

Mobile application penetration tests simulate real-world attacks on a mobile app to identify and address vulnerabilities before malicious hackers can exploit them. Developers can avoid potential threats and strengthen their app’s security posture with regular app pen testing. 

iOS and Android applications are analyzed manually or using automated penetration testing tools. However, the best approach combines both these methods. Penetration testers and automated tools simulate attacks in mobile application code, architecture, data storage, authentication, and APIs to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities. 

Importance of mobile application penetration testing

Identify and fix vulnerabilities

Mobile pen testing helps uncover security flaws in its binary and source code, architecture, data storage, network connectivity, and authentication mechanisms before they can be exploited.

Protect user data

Mobile apps often store sensitive, personally identifiable information, such as login credentials, financial details, and personal data. Mobile penetration testing ensures that this data is securely stored and transmitted.

Maintain user trust

Security breaches and vulnerabilities significantly impact customer trust in a mobile app. Pen testing instills confidence in the app and shows commitment to user data security. 

Ensure compliance

Many industries have data security and privacy regulations that mobile apps must adhere to, such as OWASP, GDPR, NIST, etc. Application penetration testing tools help verify cybersecurity compliances and avoid hefty fines or legal consequences.

Address platform-specific risks

Android and iOS have inherent security strengths and weaknesses. Mobile app pen testing uncovers platform-specific vulnerabilities that may be missed by traditional web application testing.

Secure API integration

Mobile application penetration testing tools can identify API authentication, authorization, and data validation vulnerabilities within mobile apps.

To learn more about API integration best practices, watch this on-demand webinar:

All You Need to Know about API Security Testing

Penetration testing steps (+ free mobile application penetration testing checklist)

Mobile application penetration testing typically involves several key phases, each critical for ensuring the application's security against potential threats.

1. Discovery phase

In the discovery phase, the tester gathers crucial information about the mobile application, including its architecture, technologies, and potential attack vectors.

Checklist for the discovery phase

✅ Search for information on the application in public repositories, forums, and social media

✅ Identify known vulnerabilities related to the technologies used

✅ Document the application architecture (native, hybrid, or web-based)

✅ Understand data flow and interactions with backend services

✅ Identify potential threats based on the application’s functionality and user interactions

✅ Assess client-side and server-side vulnerabilities

2. Analysis phase

The tester conducts static and dynamic application analysis, examining its code and behavior to identify exploitable vulnerabilities.

Checklist for the analysis phase

✅ Review the application’s source code for insecure coding practices

✅ Use automated tools such as Appknox to perform static code analysis

✅ Run the application in a controlled environment to observe its behavior

✅ Analyze network traffic to identify insecure communication channels

✅ Decompile the application to inspect its logic and identify hardcoded secrets or sensitive data

3. Exploitation phase

Testers in this phase exploit vulnerabilities to assess their impact while determining the severity of vulnerabilities and the potential consequences of an attack.

Checklist for the exploitation phase

✅ Attempt to exploit vulnerabilities such as insecure data storage, improper authentication, and open redirect vulnerability

✅ Use automated penetration testing software like Appknox to get a proof of concept in the final penetration testing report for each successfully exploited vulnerability

✅ Evaluate the impact of the successful exploitation on confidentiality, integrity, and data availability

✅ Document the results of the exploitation attempts

4. Reporting phase

A comprehensive report helps understand the vulnerabilities discovered and their severity while providing actionable remediation steps.

Checklist for the reporting phase

✅ Document all identified vulnerabilities, their severity, and potential impact

✅ Provide detailed steps for reproducing each vulnerability

✅ Offer remediation steps

✅ Prioritize vulnerabilities based on severity

✅ Outline plans to retest for the discovered vulnerabilities

Appknox vs. other mobile application penetration testing tools 

Manual penetration testing has several drawbacks: it is time-consuming and has limited scalability due to the wide range of platforms and devices to test. 

That’s where mobile app pen testing tools speed up the security testing process with automation, enabling easy detection of frauds and errors at scale. 

Here are some of the enterprise penetration testing tools for mobile apps. 

Combining vulnerability assessment and penetration testing (VAPT) 

Instead of VA vs. PT, VAPT combines their strengths to deliver a holistic solution. While vulnerability assessment identifies potential weaknesses in your app infrastructure, penetration testing exploits them and assesses their severity. 

The result of this approach? 

Gives a better picture of your controls, CVE exploitability, and consequences of a data breach. 

VAPT costs more than VA tools alone; however, it offers a more comprehensive solution than running separate assessments.

Suggested read: Why Continuous Vulnerability Assessments are Necessary for Your Organization

Why is Appknox your best bet for VAPT?

Appknox is an advanced mobile application security and penetration testing tool that identifies and eliminates security vulnerabilities early in the development cycle. 

The SAST, DAST, and API testing tools ensure your mobile app is secure, reliable, and compliant using penetration testing and vulnerability management. Appknox uses CVSS score reporting to assess your app’s security posture and rank the discovered vulnerabilities according to severity. 

This multi-pronged approach helps uncover a wide range of vulnerabilities that an automation-only approach may miss.

Case study: Outsourcing penetration testing for consistency 

Now, you might argue, what’s the need for automated mobile applications and security testing? Let’s take a look at this case study that one of our clients faced:

The challenge: 

For starters, manual testing by the in-house development team or third-party vendors slows the development process, increases the costs, and delays product releases. 

Human errors and inconsistencies in the testing expose the app to vulnerabilities and call for more reliable methods. 

Moreover, manual testing reduces developer productivity, diverting the focus from core tasks and impedes overall innovation. 

When a large portfolio of mobile apps requires testing, the security team will grapple with the workload. The result would be duplication of effort and increased resources who specialize in mobile app security. 

The solution: 

That’s where outsourcing mobile application penetration testing to Appknox helps in multiple ways: 

• Advanced vulnerability detection 
• Streamlines security testing 
• Optimizes overall security posture 
  
  

Comprehensive support for mobile app security with penetration testing 

Appknox’s team of dedicated mobile app security experts offers comprehensive support in mobile app security. Experts conduct mobile pen-testing, including grey box testing, on the entire application portfolio to uncover vulnerabilities missed by automated tools. 

Streamlined security testing and reduced manual workload 

Free up your developer’s time with automated vulnerability assessments. The central dashboard helps prioritize fixes based on criticality. Appknox’s CI/CD integration allows it to catch issues early and prevent their release into production. 

Enhanced vulnerability detection 

Appknox’s automated vulnerability management tool improves vulnerability detection and accuracy with integrated automated static and dynamic analysis engines. 

They identify blind spots, cover a broad range of vulnerabilities across applications, and extend to APIs. 

Appknox’s advanced scanners reduce false positives to <1% and help you streamline the development workflow. 

Cost-effective all-in-one solution with seamless integration 

The subscription model offers predictable costs and a comprehensive security suite—eliminating custom solutions. 

Expert security researchers at Appknox manually test applications to make sure flaws missed by automated assessments do not lead to compromises.

Read more: How Appknox’s Automated Security Assessment Helped a Global Supply Chain Manufacturer Enhance Its Security Posture.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are penetration testing methodologies?

Penetration testing methodologies are structured approaches for conducting comprehensive security assessments. They include reconnaissance, vulnerability analysis, exploitation, post-exploitation, and reporting. Popular methods include OWASP, OSSTMM, NIST, PTES, and ISSAF. These frameworks help ensure penetration tests are thorough, consistent, and aligned with industry best practices to identify and mitigate real-world security risks.

2. What is the basic principle of penetration testing?

The basic principle of penetration testing is to simulate real-world attacks in a controlled environment to identify and address vulnerabilities before anybody can exploit them. Pentesters attempt to gain unauthorized access, escalate privileges, and exfiltrate sensitive data to demonstrate the potential impact of a successful attack. 

3. How is penetration testing used?

Penetration testing proactively identifies and addresses security vulnerabilities in an organization's systems, networks, and applications. Pentesters simulate real-world attacks to uncover weaknesses, such as unpatched software, misconfigurations, or inadequate access controls that malicious actors could exploit. The insights gained from penetration testing help you strengthen your security posture, protect sensitive data, and comply with industry regulations.