SU Binary


WHAT ROLE DOES SU BINARY PLAY IN ANDROID ROOTING?

  • How does Kingo Root work?
  • There are two universal ways to root your Android,

    • one is by implementing "exploits",
    • the other is through flashing custom recovery.

    The former one is relatively safe while the latter one can be risky. Kingo mainly focused on "exploits" method, but also covers "recovery" for certain tricky devices (hot ones with no exploit available).

  • Essential Tools involves in exploit-rooting method
  • Despite the difference of hardware and software configurations of Android devices, similarities that all Android rooting methods share involves the following three essentials:

    • exploit
    • SU Binary
    • Superuser management app

  • What is proper root process?
  • Generally, there are several stages involves in a proper root process

    1. Bypassing Android's security by exploiting the vulnerabilities of Android OS;
    2. Placing an "su binary" file in the system partition;
    3. Installing a superuser management app.
  • "SU binary", what for and how it works?
  • "SU binary" plays a very important role in Android rooting. It is normally placed in the /system partition of your Android and is called when other apps need superuser permission. The binary checks the database maintained by Superuser.apk to determine if you have already granted rights to the requesting app, and if not, su binary will tell Superuser.apk to display a prompt asking for permission. If no su binary found, you have no root, it is the soul of a rooted device.

  • Kingo SuperUser - the superuser access management tool.
  • Kingo SuperUser is the "face" of su binary. It is the app that manages what apps on your rooted device have access to "su binary". Apps that are granted superuser access have the administrator/root permissions to modify system.