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Vaibhav Shakya
Vaibhav Shakya

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The Hidden Risk of “Safe” Android Permissions Nobody Audits

Most Android teams focus on permissions that trigger runtime prompts.

But the real risk often comes from the silent permissions that never get reviewed.

Permissions that look harmless can still:

  • Expand your app’s data exposure surface
  • Enable unintended network data flows
  • Combine with exported components to create abuse paths
  • Introduce risk through third-party SDK manifest merges
  • Break or get restricted due to modern Android and Play policy changes

Security today isn’t just about what users see — it’s about what your app is capable of doing behind the scenes.

In this article, I break down how “normal” permissions, policy-sensitive capabilities, and SDK drift can quietly increase your attack surface — and how mature teams govern permissions through architecture and CI checks.

👉 Read the full architect-level deep dive here:

https://medium.com/@vaibhav.shakya786/the-hidden-risk-of-safe-android-permissions-nobody-audits-afca965dba29


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