Investigating Android Auth Tokens
07/08/2026 Friday
Android Auth Tokens are account authentication records maintained by the
Android AccountManager service. These records are used by Android and
installed applications to store account-related authentication values,
token identifiers, token types, and provider information associated with
configured accounts on the device.
Digital Forensics Values of Android App Usage History
Android Auth Tokens can provide valuable context when account usage, application authentication, and linked service access need to be reviewed. Account names and account types may help identify which user accounts were configured on the device, while token types can indicate the applications, services, or scopes associated with authentication activity. Token identifiers and token values may also support correlation with application usage, cloud application artifacts, browser activity, and installed package records. Because authentication tokens and password-related values may contain sensitive credential material, these records should be handled carefully and protected during analysis and reporting.
Location of Android Auth Tokens
Android Auth Tokens are commonly stored in Android AccountManager
databases. On modern Android devices, these records are most often
associated with:
/data/system_ce/<USER_ID>/accounts_ce.db
Related device-encrypted account metadata may also be found in:
/data/system_ce/<USER_ID>/accounts_de.db
On older Android versions, similar AccountManager records may be stored
in legacy accounts.db locations under /data/system/. The <USER_ID>
value represents the Android user profile identifier and can differ
between devices and extractions.
Analyzing Android Auth Tokens Artifacts with ArtiFast
This section will discuss how to use ArtiFast to extract Android Auth
Tokens artifacts from Android device files and what kind of digital
forensics insights can be gained from the artifacts.
After a case has been created and evidence has been added for the
investigation, at the Artifact Selection phase, the Android Auth Tokens
artifact parser can be selected:
×
Once ArtiFast parsers plugins complete processing the artifact for analysis, it can be reviewed via Artifact View or Timeline View, with indexing, filtering, and searching capabilities. Below is a detailed description of Android Auth Tokens artifact in ArtiFast.
Android Auth Tokens
- Source: Points to the source file path used for the parsed artifact.
- ID: The internal row identifier associated with the account token record.
- Account Name: The account label or username associated with the token record.
- Account Type: Shows the app or service provider associated with the stored account record.
- Password: Any password value stored with the account record when available.
- Auth Token ID: The identifier assigned to the authentication token entry.
- Auth Token: The token value stored for the account or service.
- Auth Token Type: Identifies the token category, scope, or service request associated with the stored authentication token.
For more information or suggestions please contact: enes.turan@forensafe.com
