Bypassing Google Play Protect in 2025

Google Play Protect remains a formidable defense against malware on Android devices. However, red teams have developed advanced evasion techniques that exploit its behavioral assumptions and static analysis limitations.

Modern Evasion Tactics:

• Payload Staging: Keeping the initial APK clean and loading payloads post-installation.
• Behavioral Delay: Delaying malicious actions to avoid sandbox timeouts during scanning.
• Split APK Deployment: Using dynamic feature modules to hide core functionality.
• Certificate Misuse: Signing payloads with legitimate certificates to gain trust.

Understanding Play Protect’s detection model allows operators to design delivery mechanisms that slip past its defenses. However, these techniques should only be used for authorized penetration testing and security research.