Frida compatibility

noxen is intended to work across current Frida versions that support the required Java instrumentation APIs. It has been tested with Frida 16.6.6 and 17.7.3 because Frida 17 introduced a compatibility boundary that older scripts often fail to cross.

Those tested versions are not the only supported versions. The important distinction is the behavior before and after Frida 17.

The Frida 17 change

Frida 17 changed how the Java bridge is provided. Code that assumes a global Java object can fail unless the bridge is explicitly loaded.

The agent handles this with a compatibility shim:

const Java = globalThis.Java !== undefined ? globalThis.Java : require('frida-java-bridge');
globalThis.Java = Java;

Runtime bundle

Normal package installs include the JavaScript runtime bundles required by noxen. Users do not need to rebuild them.

When running from the source tree, Python loads:

agent/script_bundle.js

Installed packages use the packaged copy under:

src/noxen/runtime/agent/script_bundle.js

The installed wheel stores the same file inside the noxen Python package. The bundle includes what is needed for Frida 17-style Java bridge loading.

If the bundle is missing, the tool falls back to:

agent/script.js

That fallback can work with older Frida versions, but versions with Frida 17-style Java bridge loading should be expected to fail without the bundle.

Extra scripts

Extra scripts selected from the Home tab are appended after the main Frida agent bundle.

That means custom scripts can use:

Java.perform(function () {
  // custom logic
});

without importing frida-java-bridge themselves.

Developer rule

After changing:

agent/script.js
agent/system_server.js

run:

npm run build

and commit the changed source file with its matching bundle and packaged runtime copy:

agent/script.js
agent/script_bundle.js
agent/system_server.js
agent/system_server_bundle.js
src/noxen/runtime/agent/

Version troubleshooting

If the session fails before hooks are installed:

• Confirm the Android frida-server version.
• Confirm the Python frida package version.
• If running from the source tree, confirm agent/script_bundle.js exists.
• Try the same command with a known working pre-17 or 17+ Frida environment.
• Check the Log tab for JavaScript initialization errors.