'Graykey' Tool Used by Law Enforcement Can Only Partially Unlock iOS 18 Devices

[MacRumors]

Graykey, a forensics tool used by law enforcement officials to break into locked iPhones, has limited access to iOS 18 and iOS 18.0.1, 404 Media recently learned. The site secured documents that describe Graykey's functionality in-depth, giving us a look at what the device is capable of.

Graykey parent company Magnet Forensics does not share information about the tool, and complete details about the devices that Graykey can unlock have not surfaced before.

Most iPhones that run iOS 18 or iOS 18.0.1 are listed as eligible for a "partial" unlock, though the iPhone 11 models can seemingly be unlocked in full. Data on iOS 18.1, a newer version of iOS, isn't included in the document, but iOS 18.1 betas were listed as inaccessible.

It's not clear what "partial" access means or what data can be garnered from iPhones with that access listing, but it might mean that law enforcement are limited to unencrypted files, file size information, and folder structure. On more vulnerable devices, Graykey can unlock an iPhone with a 4-digit passcode in mere minutes, while longer passcodes can take hours.

Graykey takes advantage of iPhone vulnerabilities to unlock devices, and its capabilities can change as Apple patches security flaws. In 2018, for example, Apple disabled Graykey with an update to iOS 12, but new vulnerabilities were found that restored functionality. Eventually, Magnet Forensics may be able to find a flaw that will allow Graykey to get into iOS 18 devices as well.

Earlier this year, a leak from Israel-based mobile forensics company Cellebrite suggested that its tools are unable to unlock iPhones that are running iOS 17.4 or later, but it is now able to access devices running iOS 17.5.1.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: 'Graykey' Tool Used by Law Enforcement Can Only Partially Unlock iOS 18 Devices

 

[DarthDon]

Seems like apple is always a small step ahead...

 

[contacos]

Excuse me but I already declined Cookie Banners. I shall not be spied on

/s

 

[uacd]

Plot twist: they will eventually crack it.
This whole news story sounds like Apple’s crisis communications, all just for the sake of keeping public image of “privacy-focused” company alive.

Privacy is when something can be deleted in one single click, without all the unnecessary submenus. Deleting anything in modern iOS takes eternity, all stuff automatically backed up, “recently deleted” folders are everywhere, as if Apple doesn’t actually want users to keep stuff clean. Sure data can be recovered, but it is still better than copies and backups all around

 

[Student of Life]

Privacy will always be a game of cat and mouse unfortunately.

 

[SpotOnT]

I remember when courts were prosecuting people for making software that could rip a CD. There were even federal laws that criminalized circumventing encrypted media.

But apparently using software to hack into an encrypted iPhone is totally legal!

 

[schlitzz]

Graykey can probably hack the Epic alternative App Store. Sucks to be Tim Sweeney.

 

[Apple_Robert]

So glad Apple actively works to keep us safer than most.

 

[Porco]

used by law enforcement officials to break into

Welcome to the wacky world of the upside-down.

 

[DrJR]

Wish we had a digital bill of rights of some kind.

 

[Patchwork]

I expect this is a deliberate change by Apple and may be related to the inactivity reboot change. The reason I think that is security researcher Jiska Classen has reverse engineered the inactivity reboot in iOS 18.1 (and 18.2 beta) and found it is an undocumented change. What the inactivity reboot feature is doing is quite clever as it counts days since the last unlock and if it hits three days, it kills Springboard forcing the iPhone to reboot. It is all controlled by the Secure Enclave processor making it almost impossible to bypass. There’s more details over on 9to5Mac though no doubt Macrumors will cover this at some point.

 

[lkrupp]

And we’re not hearing much from the jailbreaking crowd either these days. Oh, and the YouTube videos “demonstrating" how childishly easy it is to break into and unlock any iPhone don’t seem to be interesting anyone either.

 

[I7guy]

I remember when courts were prosecuting people for making software that could rip a CD. There were even federal laws that criminalized circumventing encrypted media.

But apparently using software to hack into an encrypted iPhone is totally legal!

That's a great point. The programmer of DVD Decrypter on of the greatest rippers got into trouble figuring out the encryption scheme on cds and dvds. Having any government do the same for phones, infrastructure, webcams, tvs etc. gets a big yawn nowadays.

 

[JapanApple]

Securities important. I’d rather have a Secure device than it being able to be hacked or broken into. I don’t mind security I think it’s important.

 

[coolfactor]

Plot twist: they will eventually crack it.
This whole news story sounds like Apple’s crisis communications, all just for the sake of keeping public image of “privacy-focused” company alive.

Privacy is when something can be deleted in one single click, without all the unnecessary submenus. Deleting anything in modern iOS takes eternity, all stuff automatically backed up, “recently deleted” folders are everywhere, as if Apple doesn’t actually want users to keep stuff clean. Sure data can be recovered, but it is still better than copies and backups all around

Disagree because you have choices. Nobody is forcing anyone to do anything or use anything.

 

[DocMultimedia]

Wish we had a digital bill of rights of some kind.

The one that demands a back door to phones? Everyone, unfortunately, has their idea of rights.

 

[quietstormSD]

Why doesn't law enforcement just get a warrant or whatever and give it to Apple to allow them to get into the phone? I believe Apple complies with these requests.

 

[ikramerica]

I remember when courts were prosecuting people for making software that could rip a CD. There were even federal laws that criminalized circumventing encrypted media.

But apparently using software to hack into an encrypted iPhone is totally legal!

Only the large corporate copyright holders matter. Your personal “creations”, though equally protected under copyright law, don’t seem to matter a lick.

 

[mansplains]

And we’re not hearing much from the jailbreaking crowd either these days.

This is because there’s little reason to jailbreak anymore. Apple has added plenty of the sought-after features previously exclusive to jailbreaking.

 

[yabeweb]

Why doesn't law enforcement just get a warrant or whatever and give it to Apple to allow them to get into the phone? I believe Apple complies with these requests.

Apple should not be able to do such thing, otherwise it means they plant a backdoor.

Maybe they do now, but they shouldn't as if you sell a thing as secure while having a way around it yourself is not what I would call secure.

It's like buying a safe and the guy that manufacture it keeps a key in case law enforcement want to peek trought it.

It's either safe or it has a back way in, in that vase is not safe, it is safer than other but not safe.

 

[cjsuk]

Why doesn't law enforcement just get a warrant or whatever and give it to Apple to allow them to get into the phone? I believe Apple complies with these requests.

I believe that Apple have designed the thing so they can't comply to the request.

 

[phenste]

Wish we had a digital bill of rights of some kind.

The one that demands a back door to phones? Everyone, unfortunately, has their idea of rights.

@DocMultimedia lmao what kind of insane pole-vault was that from the original comment? did you not infer that maybe @DrJR was alluding to a digital rights bill that advocates for the exact opposite of what you just described? this reeks of bad-faith/strawmanning/general foolishness

anyway, yeah, a digital privacy bill is DESPERATELY overdue in the U.S.—looking forward to seeing our next administration not care whatsoever though! Musky man gotta get that data for his self-driving cars, what better a proxy than this country’s commander-in-chief 🤠

 

[quatermass]

Obviously, if you were, for arguments sake, a 'Bad Actor' with malign intent, you'd be completely insane to do anything on a phone or online and would roundly deserve to get caught. The people you should be worried about are the ones that you don't know about and can't detect... the unknown unknowns.

 

[cjsuk]

Obviously, if you were, for arguments sake, a 'Bad Actor' with malign intent, you'd be completely insane to do anything on a phone or online and would roundly deserve to get caught. The people you should be worried about are the ones that you don't know about and can't detect... the unknown unknowns.

Most people get caught with personal procedural issues rather than technical means. It takes a lot of effort and consistency to have good security hygiene and that's two things humans are really bad at.

 

[benwiggy]

Why doesn't law enforcement just get a warrant or whatever and give it to Apple to allow them to get into the phone? I believe Apple complies with these requests.

Apple has repeatedly demonstrated that they don't hold the keys. iPhones are end-to-end encrypted.