Inspect Running Mac OS X Applications with F-Script

Objective C is a Dynamic Runtime, so you can load code like plugins during runtime. This dynamic runtime can be very useful for exploring what applications are doing. I use this to assess the security of applications for example.

F-Script provides an easy way to inject itself into a running app and explore around.

Download F-Script here

Launch the app you want to explore.

Then find the process id number of the app in a Terminal shell:

ps auxww | grep “App Name“

Load the F-Script Framework into the app and insert its menu using:

sudo gdb --pid AppNameProcessID --batch --nx --command=/dev/stdin << EOT
p (char)[[NSBundle bundleWithPath:@"path/to/Library/Frameworks/FScript.framework"] load]
p (void)[FScriptMenuItem insertInMainMenu]
EOT

I found the above snippet by reviewing this automator service.

Note that sudo is only required if you are not in the _developer group.

At this point, switch to your running application.  You will notice an F-Script Menu is added to the menu bar.

Choose Console from the F-Script menu and type:

del := NSApplication sharedApplication delegate

This will give you a reference to the application delegate.  The application delegate is a top level class of the application, so it should provide a good starting point.

Next, choose Open Object Browser from the F-Script menu.

Now you should have a nice GUI window to explore the app.

Click on del in the Workspace to explore the app delegate.  You can call methods, change values, etc.

See the F-Script documentation for more details.

Enjoy