Master Roadmap: Mobile App Reverse
Engineering & Security Bypass
This roadmap is designed to help you become an expert in Mobile App Reverse Engineering,
security bypassing,
and Frida scripting. It covers foundations, Android, iOS, advanced bypasses, and a capstone
project,
with recommended books, courses, blogs, and tools.
---
## Phase 1: Foundations (Week 1–2)
Goal: Build solid ground on RE, ARM/DEX/Mach-O, and tools.
- Book: Practical Reverse Engineering (Bruce Dang)
- Book: The IDA Pro Book (Chris Eagle)
- Course: Beginner’s Guide to ARM Assembly (Azeria Labs) –
[Link]
- Course: Intro to Reverse Engineering (OST2) –
[Link]
- Tools: Ghidra, JADX, Apktool, MobSF
---
## Phase 2: Android Reverse Engineering (Week 3–5)
Goal: Learn to unpack, decompile, analyze, and patch APKs.
- Workshop: Android App Reverse Engineering (Maddie Stone) –
[Link]
- Resource: OWASP MASTG – Android – [Link]
- Book: The Android Hacker’s Handbook
- Tools: JADX, Apktool, Ghidra, MobSF
- Practice: Reverse engineer test APKs, rebuild, map crypto flows.
---
## Phase 3: Dynamic Analysis & Frida (Week 6–8)
Goal: Hook runtime, bypass protections, and explore app internals.
- Course: Frida Crash Course – [Link]
- Resource: Frida Handbook – [Link]
- Blog: Android SSL Pinning Bypass with Frida – [Link]
with-frida/
- Tool: Objection – [Link]
- Practice: Write hooks, bypass SSL pinning, dump cookies/tokens.
---
## Phase 4: iOS Reverse Engineering (Week 9–10)
Goal: Understand Mach-O, code signing, and iOS defenses.
- Book: iOS Application Security (David Thiel)
- Resource: Apple Platform Security –
[Link]
- Course: iOS App Pentesting (Pentester Academy) –
[Link]
- Tools: Hopper, Ghidra, Frida, Objection
---
## Phase 5: Advanced Bypasses (Week 11–12)
Goal: Defeat advanced defenses.
- Blog: JA3 Fingerprinting Explained – [Link]
fingerprinting-with-ja3-and-ja3s-247362855967
- Frida SSL Pinning Bypass – [Link]
- Blog: Anti-Frida Techniques – [Link]
- Resource: OWASP MASTG – Resiliency – [Link]
Practice:
- Hook [Link] (SSL_write/SSL_read)
- Patch root/jailbreak checks
- Deobfuscate DEX at runtime
---
## Phase 6: Capstone Project (Week 13–14)
Goal: Apply everything end-to-end.
1. Pick an app (your own/open-source)
2. Perform static + dynamic analysis
3. Document bypasses (TLS, obfuscation, tokens)
4. Map to OWASP MASVS categories
5. Write a professional report
---
## Sample Frida Scripts
- Root Check Bypass
```js
[Link](function() {
var RootCheck = [Link]("[Link]");
[Link] = function() {
return false;
};
});
```
- Dump Cookies
```js
[Link](function () {
var CookieManager = [Link]("[Link]");
[Link]("Cookies: " + [Link]().getCookie("[Link]
});
```
- Hook SSL_write
```js
var SSL_write = [Link]("[Link]", "SSL_write");
[Link](SSL_write, {
onEnter: function (args) {
[Link]("Data: " + Memory.readUtf8String(args[1], args[2].toInt32()));
}
});
```
---
## Extra Resources
- [Link] – [Link]
- Reverse Engineering Stack Exchange – [Link]
- OWASP MASTG Labs – [Link]
