FormidableLabs / FormidableLabs/react-native-app-auth

[Android] AuthorizationService is never disposed: Custom Tabs bind leak breaks refresh() permanently after ~1000 calls

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Description

## Issue

On Android, the native module creates `new AuthorizationService(...)` at every call site and never calls `dispose()` on it. The string `dispose` does not appear anywhere in `RNAppAuthModule.java` — I checked `main` today as well as the published 8.1.0 and 8.4.1 artifacts.

`AuthorizationService`'s constructor eagerly binds to the selected browser's Custom Tabs service:

```
new AuthorizationService(context, config)
-> BrowserSelector.select(...)
-> CustomTabManager.bind(browserPackage)
-> CustomTabsClient.bindCustomTabsService(...)
-> Context.bindService(...)
```

That bind is released *only* by `AuthorizationService.dispose()` -> `CustomTabManager.dispose()` -> `unbindService`. AppAuth states the contract explicitly in the `AuthorizationService` javadoc:

> instances of this class **must be manually disposed** when no longer required, to avoid leaks

So each call through this library leaks one `ServiceConnection` to the default browser's `CustomTabsService`. Android's ActivityManager caps outstanding bind requests per process/service at ~1000. Once that is crossed, `bindService` throws:

```
Error: Too many bind requests(999+) for service Intent { act=android.support.customtabs.action.CustomTabsService pkg=com.sec.android.app.sbrowser }
```

The exception is thrown synchronously from the `AuthorizationService` constructor, so the JS promise rejects. Crucially, the bind counter only resets when the process dies — so from that moment on **every** subsequent call fails for the rest of the process lifetime. In a long-lived app the user is silently unable to refresh their token until they force-stop it.

`refresh()` is by far the worst affected, because it is the call an app makes repeatedly and unattended — and it needs no browser at all. The Custom Tabs bind is pure collateral damage from the constructor.

### Affected call sites

All six `new AuthorizationService(...)` in `packages/react-native-app-auth/android/src/main/java/com/rnappauth/RNAppAuthModule.java` on `main` (lines ~532, 614, 740, 753, 799, 849). None are disposed. The one in `refreshWithConfiguration` (~799) is the one that bites in practice.

### Reproduction

1. Android device with a Custom Tabs–capable default browser (seen with Samsung Internet).
2. Call `refresh()` repeatedly within a single process — e.g. an OP with a short access-token lifetime, refreshed on demand before API calls.
3. After ~1000 refreshes without the process being killed, every `refresh()` rejects with the error above and never recovers.

Observed in production on a device whose app process had stayed alive for ~10 days.

### Suggested fix

Minimal, per call site — dispose in the response callback:

```java
final AuthorizationService authService = new AuthorizationService(context, appAuthConfiguration);

AuthorizationService.TokenResponseCallback tokenResponseCallback = new AuthorizationService.TokenResponseCallback() {
@Override
public void onTokenRequestCompleted(@Nullable TokenResponse response, @Nullable AuthorizationException ex) {
authService.dispose();
// ...existing handling
}
};
```

Note that the `authorize` / `endSession` flows hand the service off to an Activity-based redirect flow, so disposal there has to happen after the redirect is handled rather than immediately.

Better still, mirror what [`flutter_appauth`](https://github.com/MaikuB/flutter_appauth) does with the same underlying `net.openid:appauth` library: keep a **single** lazily-created `AuthorizationService`, reuse it across calls, and dispose it on lifecycle teardown (`onDetachedFromEngine` in their case). See `FlutterAppauthPlugin.java` — `createAuthorizationServices()` / `disposeAuthorizationServices()`, plus their hardening PRs [#170](https://github.com/MaikuB/flutter_appauth/pull/170), [#556](https://github.com/MaikuB/flutter_appauth/pull/556) and [#600](https://github.com/MaikuB/flutter_appauth/pull/600).

### Prior art

- [auth0/Auth0.Android#517](https://github.com/auth0/Auth0.Android/pull/517) — "Fix memory leak in CustomTabsService", the same class of leak in another OAuth SDK's Custom Tabs controller.
- [openid/AppAuth-Android#1085](https://github.com/openid/AppAuth-Android/issues/1085), [#91](https://github.com/openid/AppAuth-Android/issues/91), [#134](https://github.com/openid/AppAuth-Android/issues/134), [#166](https://github.com/openid/AppAuth-Android/issues/166) — recurring reports around the bind/unbind side of `CustomTabManager`.
- `expo-web-browser` pairs `bindCustomTabsService` with `unbindService` and exposes `warmUp` / `coolDown` to callers, so the contract is well established elsewhere in the React Native ecosystem.

I'm happy to open a PR for the `refresh` / token-request paths if you'd like — let me know whether you'd prefer the minimal per-call `dispose()` or the cached-instance approach.

---

## Environment

* **Your Identity Provider**: Keycloak (not provider-specific — any OP with short-lived access tokens will reach the threshold)
* **Platform that you're experiencing the issue on**: Android
* **Your `react-native` Version**: 0.81.5 (Hermes, New Architecture)
* **Your `react-native-app-auth` Version**: 8.1.0 — but confirmed still present on `main` / 8.4.1
* **Are you using Expo?** Yes
* **Device**: Samsung Galaxy Tab A7 (SM-T505), Android 12, default browser Samsung Internet

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start in packages/react-native-app-auth/android/src/main/java/com/rnappauth/RNAppAuthModule.java and inspect the six AuthorizationService call sites, especially refreshWithConfiguration and its token-response callback. Compare the per-call dispose suggestion with the cached-service lifecycle approach, including authorize and endSession redirect handling. Done means repeated refresh calls no longer accumulate Custom Tabs binds and the affected flows still complete correctly.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
android, java
Domain
authentication, mobile
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
62/100

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