Usually, the communication between native and the app is done via
sending intents to either broadcast or activity. These communication
channels are for launching root requests dialogs, sending root request
notifications (the toast you see when an app gained root access), and
root request logging.
Sending intents by am (activity manager) usually requires specifying
the component name in the format of <pkg>/<class name>. This means parts
of Magisk Manager cannot be randomized or else the native daemon is
unable to know where to send data to the app.
On modern Android (not sure which API is it introduced), it is possible
to send broadcasts to a package, not a specific component. Which
component will receive the intent depends on the intent filter declared
in AndroidManifest.xml. Since we already have a mechanism in native code
to keep track of the package name of Magisk Manager, this makes it
perfect to pass intents to Magisk Manager that have components being
randomly obfuscated (stub APKs).
There are a few caveats though. Although this broadcasting method works
perfectly fine on AOSP and most systems, there are OEMs out there
shipping ROMs blocking broadcasts unexpectedly. In order to make sure
Magisk works in all kinds of scenarios, we run actual tests every boot
to determine which communication method should be used.
We have 3 methods in total, ordered in preference:
1. Broadcasting to a package
2. Broadcasting to a specific component
3. Starting a specific activity component
Method 3 will always work on any device, but the downside is anytime
a communication happens, Magisk Manager will steal foreground focus
regardless of whether UI is drawn. Method 1 is the only way to support
obfuscated stub APKs. The communication test will test method 1 and 2,
and if Magisk Manager is able to receive the messages, it will then
update the daemon configuration to use whichever is preferable. If none
of the broadcasts can be delivered, then the fallback method 3 will be
used.
Old Qualcomn devices have their own special QC table of DTB to
store device trees. Since patching fstab is now mandatory on Android 10,
and for older devices all early mount devices have to be included into
the fstab in DTBs, patching QCDT is crucial for rooting Android 10
on legacy devices.
Close#1876 (Thanks for getting me aware of this issue!)
The state of ROM A/B OTA addon.d-v2 support is an inconsistent mess currently:
- LineageOS builds userdebug with permissive update_engine domain, OmniROM builds userdebug with a more restricted update_engine domain, and CarbonROM builds user with a hybrid closer to Omni's
- addon.d-v2 scripts cannot function to the full extent they should when there is a more restricted update_engine domain sepolicy in place, which is likely why Lineage made update_engine completely permissive
Evidence for the above:
- many addon.d-v2 scripts only work (or fully work) on Lineage, see below
- Magisk's addon.d-v2 script would work on Lineage without issue, but would work on Carbon and Omni only if further allow rules were added for basic things like "file read" and "dir search" suggesting these ROMs' addon.d-v2 is severely limited
- Omni includes a /system/addon.d/69-gapps.sh script with the ROM itself (despite shipping without GApps), and with Magisk's more permissive sepolicy and no GApps installed it will remove important ROM files during OTA, resulting in a bootloop; the issue with shipping this script was therefore masked by Omni's overly restrictive update_engine sepolicy not allowing the script to function as intended
The solution:
- guarantee a consistent addon.d-v2 experience for users across ROMs when rooted with Magisk by making update_engine permissive as Lineage has
- hopefully ROMs can work together to come up with something standard for unrooted addon.d-v2 function
