this post was submitted on 09 Nov 2024
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Apple quietly introduced code into iOS 18.1 which reboots the device if it has not been unlocked for a period of time, reverting it to a state which improves the security of iPhones overall and is making it harder for police to break into the devices, according to multiple iPhone security experts. 

On Thursday, 404 Media reported that law enforcement officials were freaking out that iPhones which had been stored for examination were mysteriously rebooting themselves. At the time the cause was unclear, with the officials only able to speculate why they were being locked out of the devices. Now a day later, the potential reason why is coming into view.

“Apple indeed added a feature called ‘inactivity reboot’ in iOS 18.1.,” Dr.-Ing. Jiska Classen, a research group leader at the Hasso Plattner Institute, tweeted after 404 Media published on Thursday along with screenshots that they presented as the relevant pieces of code.

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[–] Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone 252 points 5 days ago

IT support everywhere sigh in satisfaction

[–] iturnedintoanewt@lemm.ee 116 points 5 days ago (14 children)

GrapheneOS also has this. Not sure stock android includes it.

[–] catloaf@lemm.ee 58 points 5 days ago (2 children)

It does not. I don't have it on my Pixel 6. From other people's comments, it sounds like Samsung and other OEMs have added their version, though.

[–] darkevilmac@lemmy.zip 22 points 5 days ago (5 children)

Yeah, can confirm Samsung has this. I have auto reboot configured.

[–] Davel23@fedia.io 10 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Where would I find that setting? I have an S22 Ultra and I can't seem to find it. Unless my phone has fallen out of support...

[–] darkevilmac@lemmy.zip 16 points 5 days ago (1 children)

It's under device care -> auto optimization in settings. You can also just search "restart" in settings and it should pop up.

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[–] rockSlayer@lemmy.world 15 points 5 days ago (7 children)

That seals the deal for me on rooting my pixel. I've been hesitant about rooting ever since I bricked an extra galaxy s3 and nearly bricked my (main device) Verizon galaxy s5

If you have a factory pixel, you don't need to root. You can unlock bootloader and install a rom that has it (calyxos or grapheneos I know have them). You can root, but you don't have to.

[–] dumbass@leminal.space 13 points 5 days ago (5 children)

Putting graphineos onto my pixel was the easiest thing I've done in a long time, the installer is just pressing buttons and waiting for the next button to be ready pretty much.

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[–] iturnedintoanewt@lemm.ee 10 points 5 days ago (2 children)

GrapheneOS is the easiest ROM install bar none. Get the en browser (needs to be chrome-based) to the install url, hook the phone cable, and let it run. It's super straightforward. It's not rooting though, you don't get root access by default.

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[–] RubberElectrons@lemmy.world 14 points 5 days ago (4 children)
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[–] magnetosphere@fedia.io 93 points 5 days ago (11 children)

There is no shortage of reasons to dislike Apple. This isn’t one of them.

[–] CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 26 points 5 days ago (8 children)

There is a scene in Mr Robot where Darlene is able to do a full wipe on her phone without even looking at the screen.

I wish I was that good.

I want a way that I can trigger this from the main lock screen without unlocking the phone.

Like a specific pin you have to enter twice to trigger the full wipe.

[–] hydration9806@lemmy.ml 33 points 5 days ago (2 children)

GrapheneOS has this. I believe it's called a Duress PIN.

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[–] forest5@lonestarlemmy.mooo.com 73 points 5 days ago (13 children)

As a member of the intelligence community, I can almost guarantee that this is directed at the increased use of Cellebrite UFED hardware, specifically putting the device back into BFU mode, which removes cryptography-related memory allocations. This is also why you're asked for your password instead of face or fingerprint upon reboot.

[–] phoneymouse@lemmy.world 26 points 5 days ago (7 children)

I don’t know how Cellebrite is a legally operating company. Their entire business model is a violation of the computer fraud and abuse act.

[–] ilega_dh@feddit.nl 33 points 5 days ago

No that’s only for when poor people do it

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[–] PresidentCamacho@lemm.ee 18 points 5 days ago

Which is great, because you can't warrant a password.

[–] ziggurat@lemmy.world 12 points 5 days ago

I am also an intelligent individual in a community! High five

[–] JoYo@lemmy.ml 11 points 5 days ago

It also wasn't a quiet patch, users had to opt in.

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[–] CaptSneeze@lemmy.world 49 points 5 days ago (4 children)

The way this article is framed sounds like bullshit to me. 18.1 was released less than 2 weeks ago. Any phone running this version of iOS would have had to already been in custody and somehow upgraded to this version, or otherwise brought into custody very recently—too recently for this to have already posed such a problem that law enforcement is “freaking out” and reporting it to the media.

[–] viking@infosec.pub 25 points 5 days ago (3 children)

Don't they auto update the OS when connected to a charger? But even then, that would have triggered a reboot already.

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[–] VantaBrandon@lemmy.world 45 points 5 days ago

Thank you Apple, right side of history here, fuck fascist pigs

[–] finitebanjo@lemmy.world 32 points 4 days ago

On one hand, Fuck Da Police

On the other hand, Fuck Apple

[–] uis@lemm.ee 31 points 5 days ago (12 children)

Meanwhile security-oriented Android forks: "You didn't do that?"

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[–] Teknikal@eviltoast.org 24 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I think this used to be possible with tasker, ironically though probably not anymore before of all Google's restrictions on Android. (maybe if you have root)

[–] ProgrammingSocks@pawb.social 11 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (4 children)

GrapheneOS periodically (once a day or so) forces me to put in the passcode. If this isn't a stock Android feature that's another reason to use Graphene. It also has a "lockdown" button in the power button menu that forces the same behaviour.

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[–] tupalos@lemmy.world 14 points 4 days ago (5 children)

Why does rebooting it improve the safety or security of the phone?

[–] TaviRider@reddthat.com 73 points 4 days ago (8 children)

When you first boot up a device, most data on that device is encrypted. This is the Before First Unlock (BFU) state. In order to access any of that data, someone must enter the passcode. The Secure Enclave uses it to recreate the decryption keys that allow the device to access that encrypted data. Biometrics like Face ID and Touch ID won’t work: they can’t be used to recreate the encryption keys.

Once you unlock the device by entering the passcode the device generates the encryption keys and uses them to access the data. It keeps those keys in memory. If it didn’t, you’d have to enter your passcode over and over again in order to keep using your device. This is After First Unlock (AFU) state.

When you’re in AFU state and you lock your device, it doesn’t throw away the encryption keys. It just doesn’t permit you to access your device. This is when you can use biometrics to unlock it.

In some jurisdictions a judge can legally force someone to enter biometrics, but can’t force them give up their passcode. This legal distinction in the USA is that giving a passcode is “testimonial” because it requires giving over the contents of your mind, and forcing suspects to do that is not legal in the USA. Biometrics aren’t testimonial, and so someone can be forced to use them, similar to how arrested people are forced to give fingerprints.

Of course, in practical terms this is a meaningless distinction because both biometrics and a passcode can grant access to nearly all data on a device. So one interesting thing about BFU vs AFU is that BFU makes this legal hair-splitting moot: biometrics don’t work in BFU state.

But that’s not what the 404 Media articles are about. It’s more about the forensic tools that can sometimes extract data even from a locked device. A device in AFU state has lots of opportunities for attack compared to BFU. The encryption keys exist, some data is already decrypted in memory, the lightning port is active, it will connect to Wi-Fi networks, and so on. This constitutes a lot of attack surface that hackers could potentially exploit to pull data off the device. In BFU state, there’s very little data available and almost no attack surface. Automatically returning a device to BFU state improves resistance to hacking.

[–] Excrubulent@slrpnk.net 14 points 4 days ago (7 children)

Fun fact: in Australia we don't have a bill of rights of any kind, so the cops can just force you to reveal your passwords. The maximum penalty for refusing is 2 years imprisonment.

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[–] nicerdicer@feddit.org 38 points 4 days ago (6 children)

Once rebooted, you need to enter your PIN to unlock the phone (and the SIM as well). Before that it is not possible to unlock the phone with biometric credentials (face ID or fingerprint).

As far as I'm aware, police can force you to hand over your biometric credentials (they can hold the phone to your face to unlock it when you have face ID enabled, or can move your finger to the fingerprint sensor). But they can't force you to reveal the PIN number.

[–] Wildly_Utilize@infosec.pub 9 points 4 days ago

BFU (before first unlock) vs AFU (After first unlock)

Basically encrypted vs decrypted

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[–] Link@rentadrunk.org 13 points 5 days ago (1 children)

How long until it reboot when inactive?

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[–] vordalack@lemm.ee 11 points 4 days ago

Do two fucks make a right?

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