Build an Android Pentesting Lab on Kali Linux – Full Step‑by‑Step Guide

Smartphones are ubiquitous, making them attractive targets for attackers; this guide shows how to create a safe virtual environment on Kali Linux for testing Android hacking methods.

Step 1 – Prepare Kali Linux

Install Kali Linux and open a terminal.

Step 2 – Install required 32‑bit libraries

Run the following command to install the necessary libraries:

apt-get install lib32stdc++6 lib32ncurses5 lib32zl

Step 3 – Install the Android SDK

Download the Android SDK (Linux package) from the official Android site using the Iceweasel browser, then extract it either via the graphical tool or the command line.

Step 4 – Access the SDK tools directory

Navigate to the SDK tools folder:

cd /android-pentest-framework/sdk/tools

Step 5 – Launch the SDK manager

Start the Android SDK manager and install two system images (Android 4.3 – API 18 and Android 2.2 – API 8): ./android In the manager, select the two images and click “Install XX packages”.

Step 6 – Create Android Virtual Devices (AVDs)

Open the AVD Manager (Tools → Manage AVDs) and click “Create”. Create two devices named “Android 4.3” and “Android 2.2”, using Nexus 4 as the device, the corresponding API levels, a dynamic hardware skin, and set the SD‑card size to 100 MiB.

Step 7 – Start the virtual devices

Select each AVD and click “Start”. The emulator will launch; this may take several minutes.

Step 8 – Clone the Smartphone‑Pentest‑Framework

Download the framework from GitHub:

git clone https://github.com/georgiaw/Smartphone-Pentest-Framework.git

Step 9 – Start required services

Start Apache and MySQL, which the framework depends on:

service apache2 start

service mysql start

Step 10 – Edit the framework configuration

Navigate to the console directory and edit the config file to set the correct IP addresses:

cd /root/Smartphone-Pentest-Framework/frameworkconsole

leafpad config

Adjust the IP and shell IP variables based on the output of ifconfig.

Step 11 – Launch the Pentest framework

Run the framework script: ./framework.py The menu shown in the screenshot appears, confirming the framework is operational.

Below are the illustrative screenshots from the original article:

Following these steps creates a functional Android pentesting lab where you can safely explore mobile phone vulnerabilities.