On Android how to check if `adb root` would succeed, without running `adb root` and without checking the UI?
Jul 11, 9:49pm

On Android, you can check if adb root would succeed without actually running adb root or checking the UI by inspecting the ro.secure and ro.debuggable system properties. These properties are accessible via adb shell getprop.

How to Check:

Run the following command:

bash
adb shell getprop ro.secure
adb shell getprop ro.debuggable

Interpretation:

  • ro.secure:

    • If 0: The device is not enforcing SELinux or secure policies, and adb root is more likely to succeed (if the build is also debuggable).
    • If 1: The device is enforcing secure policies, and adb root will likely fail unless the build is explicitly debuggable.

  • ro.debuggable:

    • If 1: The build is debuggable, meaning adb root is allowed (if ro.secure is 0 or the device is userdebug/eng build).
    • If 0: The build is not debuggable, and adb root will fail.

Combined Logic:

  • adb root will succeed if:

    • ro.secure is 0 OR
    • ro.debuggable is 1 (and the device is a userdebug/eng build).

  • adb root will fail if:

    • ro.secure is 1 AND ro.debuggable is 0.

Example:

If you run:

bash
adb shell getprop ro.secure

and get:

text
1

and:

bash
adb shell getprop ro.debuggable

returns:

text
0

→ adb root will fail.

If either property is 0 or 1 (respectively), test further or check the build type (adb shell getprop ro.build.type). Userdebug/eng builds often allow adb root even if ro.secure is 1.

Jul 11, 9:49pm

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