Java Pathfinder on Android Devices

Abstract

Because Android apps are written in Java and executed on a virtual machine (VM), there is an opportunity to employ Java Pathfinder (JPF) for their verification. There already exist two JPF extensions, jpf-android and jpf-pathdroid. The former executes Java bytecode on the Java VM, while the latter executes Android applications in their original format. Both do not support native methods, and thus depend on a model of the Android environment. This paper introduces an alternative approach: we run JPF as an Android application that executes Java bytecode, which gives us direct access to the Android environment. This approach allows us to verify rich Android apps that rely on native calls