https://github.com/nebelnidas/yt-re
YouTube Android app reverse engineering suite. Intended for research purposes only.
https://github.com/nebelnidas/yt-re
deobfuscation reverse-engineering youtube
Last synced: 12 months ago
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YouTube Android app reverse engineering suite. Intended for research purposes only.
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/nebelnidas/yt-re
- Owner: NebelNidas
- License: cc0-1.0
- Created: 2022-05-23T15:34:24.000Z (about 4 years ago)
- Default Branch: 18.18.39
- Last Pushed: 2024-12-05T15:21:41.000Z (over 1 year ago)
- Last Synced: 2025-04-12T09:11:24.961Z (over 1 year ago)
- Topics: deobfuscation, reverse-engineering, youtube
- Language: Java
- Homepage:
- Size: 58.1 MB
- Stars: 22
- Watchers: 2
- Forks: 4
- Open Issues: 2
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- License: LICENSE
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README
# YouTube App Reverse Engineering Suite
YT-RE provides several facilities aiding the YouTube Android app reverse engineering process. These include our own set of deobfuscation mappings, tracking of obfuscated artifacts across releases, integration with several well-known reverse engineering tools and a local Git repository generator.
## Getting Started
1. Clone the repo.
2. Download the correct version (see current branch name) of the YouTube APK, preferably from [APKMirror](https://www.apkmirror.com/apk/google-inc/youtube/) (`nodpi` is the default).
3. Place the APK at the root of this directory and rename it to `youtube-.apk` (replace `` with the adequate version string).
4. Run `./gradlew enigma` or `/gradlew jadx` to use and/or edit the mappings (see the tasks' descriptions below).
5. If you want to, commit and push your work to a fork and open a PR with your changes. Please have a look at the [naming conventions](/CONVENTIONS.md) before submitting one.
## Gradle Tasks
YT-RE uses Gradle to provide a number of utility tasks for working with the mappings.
Please note, to run our build script **Java 17** is required!
### `enigma`
Download, setup and launch the latest version of [Enigma](https://github.com/FabricMC/Enigma) automatically configured to use the converted jar and mappings.
Compared to launching Enigma externally, the gradle task adds a name guesser plugin that automatically maps enums and a few constant field names.
### `jadx`
Download, setup and launch the latest version of [JADX](https://github.com/skylot/jadx) automatically configured to use the provided APK and mappings.
Please do not enable JADX's built-in auto-deobfuscation, as this feature can mess with exported package names.
### `buildTinyMappingFiles`
Build Tiny and Tiny v2 mapping files between official (obfuscated) names and our renames ("named").
### `buildNamedJar`
Builds a deobfuscated jar with deobfuscation mappings applied (`youtube--named.jar`).
### Tasks for updating to a new YT version
These are of no use to the average user, but are listed here anyway for completeness' sake. To update the project to a new YT version, repeat steps 2 and 3 from [Getting Started](#getting-started), but this time with the YT version you want to update to. Then run the following tasks. Note that they all require passing an additional `newYtVersion` property via `-PnewYtVersion=''`.
#### `matcher`
Run [Matcher](https://github.com/NebelNidas/Matcher) with the provided `youtube-.apk` and `youtube-.apk` as inputs, so you can update the mappings to a newer YT version.
As soon as Matcher is started and has analyzed its input files, select `Matching` → `Auto match all`. Depending on your Computer's hardware, this may take several hours. A modern multi-core CPU with at least 6 cores and 16 GB of RAM are recommended! Matcher itself requires at least 6 GB of memory. After the process has finished, take care of the remaining red entries. You may have to double-check each class and method if any containing children are still unmatched. If you can't find a similar enough counterpart, perhaps the class/method/etc. has been removed from the newer APK. In this case, click the "unmatchable" button in the bottom pane.
Once you're confident with your results, go to `File` → `Save matches` and save the file into the `matches` folder. Please name it ` - .match`; see the already existent match files.
To update the mappings, go to to `File` → `Save mappings (Enigma)`, select the `mappings` folder, give permission to overwrite the existing data and use the following configuration to export the updated files:\
#### `jadxNewYtVersion`
Opens the new YouTube version's APK in JADX. This task should only be used for assisting in the matching process, don't import or export any mappings from there.
#### `updateIntermediary`
Generates a new Tiny file with updated intermediaries into the [`./intermediary`](./intermediary/) directory.