Hi, I’m seeing a production issue on iOS 26+ that only affects some users.
symptoms:
It does NOT happen for all users.
It happens for a subset of users on iOS 26+.
If we write a value to Keychain and read it immediately in the same session, it succeeds.
However, after terminating the app and relaunching, the value appears to be gone:
SecItemCopyMatching returns errSecItemNotFound (-25300).
Repro (as observed on affected devices):
Launch app (iOS 26+).
Save PIN data to Keychain using SecItemAdd (GenericPassword).
Immediately read it using SecItemCopyMatching -> success.
Terminate the app (swipe up / kill).
Relaunch the app and read again using the same service -> returns -25300.
Expected:
The Keychain item should persist across app relaunch and remain readable (while the device is unlocked).
Actual:
After app relaunch, SecItemCopyMatching returns errSecItemNotFound (-25300) as if the item does not exist.
Implementation details (ObjC):
We store a “PIN” item like this (simplified):
addItem:
kSecClass: kSecClassGenericPassword
kSecAttrService: <FIXED_STRING>
kSecValueData:
kSecAttrAccessControl: SecAccessControlCreateWithFlags(..., kSecAttrAccessibleWhenUnlockedThisDeviceOnly, 0, ...)
readItem (SecItemCopyMatching):
kSecClass: kSecClassGenericPassword
kSecAttrService: <FIXED_STRING>
kSecReturnData: YES
(uses kSecUseOperationPrompt in our async method)
Question:
On iOS 26+, is there any known issue or new behavior where a successfully added GenericPassword item could later return errSecItemNotFound after app termination/relaunch for only some users/devices?
What should we check to distinguish:
OS behavior change/bug vs.
entitlement/access-group differences (app vs extension, provisioning/team changes),
device state/policies (MDM, passcode/biometrics changes),
query attributes we should include to make the item stable across relaunch?
Build / Dev Environment:
macOS: 15.6.1 (24G90)
Xcode: 26.2
iCloud Keychain Verification Codes
RSS for tagUse verification codes that are integrated with iCloud Keychain.
Posts under iCloud Keychain Verification Codes tag
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Our Goal: We are implementing a workflow for derived credentials. Our objective is to have a PIV/CAC derived credential (from Entrust), installed via the Intune MDM Company Portal app, and then use it within our (managed) app to generate digital signatures.
Challenge: The Intune Company Portal installs these identities into the System Keychain. Because third-party apps are restricted from accessing private keys in the System Keychain, we are running into a roadblock.
Our Question: 1) Is there an API that allows us to create a signature without us having to pass the private key itself, but instead just pass a handle/some reference to the private key and then the API can access the private key in the system keychain and create the signature under the hood. SecKeyCreateSignature is the API method that creates a signature but requires passing a private key. 2) If #1 is not feasible, is there a way to get access to system keychain to retrieve certs + private key for managed apps
Topic:
Privacy & Security
SubTopic:
General
Tags:
Entitlements
Security
iCloud Keychain Verification Codes
CryptoTokenKit
We recently upgraded OpenSSL from version 1.1.1 to 3.4.0. After this upgrade, we observed that PKCS#12 files generated using OpenSSL 3.4.0 fail to import into the macOS Keychain with the following error:
Failed to import PKCS#12 data: -25264
(MAC verification failed during PKCS12 import (wrong password?))
This issue is reproducible on macOS 14.8.2. The same PKCS#12 files import successfully on other macOS versions, including 15.x and 26.x.
Additionally, PKCS#12 files that fail to import on macOS 14.8 work correctly when copied and imported on other macOS versions without any errors.
PKCS#12 Creation
The PKCS#12 data is created using the following OpenSSL API:
const char* platformPKCS12SecureKey =
_platformSecureKey.has_value() ? _platformSecureKey.value().c_str() : NULL;
PKCS12* p12 = PKCS12_create(
platformPKCS12SecureKey,
NULL,
keys,
_cert,
NULL,
0, 0, 0, 0, 0
);
if (!p12)
{
throw std::runtime_error("Failed to create PKCS#12 container");
}
PKCS#12 Import
The generated PKCS#12 data is imported into the macOS Keychain using the following code:
NSString *certPassKey = [NSString stringWithUTF8String:getCertPassKey()];
NSDictionary *options = @{
(__bridge id)kSecImportExportPassphrase: certPassKey,
(__bridge id)kSecAttrAccessible:
(__bridge id)kSecAttrAccessibleAfterFirstUnlockThisDeviceOnly,
(__bridge id)kSecAttrIsExtractable: @YES,
(__bridge id)kSecAttrIsPermanent: @YES,
(__bridge id)kSecAttrAccessGroup: APP_GROUP
};
CFArrayRef items = NULL;
OSStatus status = SecPKCS12Import(
(__bridge CFDataRef)pkcs12Data,
(__bridge CFDictionaryRef)options,
&items
);
Topic:
Privacy & Security
SubTopic:
General
Tags:
macOS
Signing Certificates
iCloud Keychain Verification Codes
Passkeys in iCloud Keychain
Hello, I am currently implementing a biometric authentication registration flow using WebAuthn. I am using ASAuthorizationPlatformPublicKeyCredentialRegistrationRequest, and I would like to know if there is a way to hide the "Save to another device" option that appears during the registration process.
Specifically, I want to guide users to save the passkey only locally on their device, without prompting them to save it to iCloud Keychain or another device.
If there is a way to hide this option or if there is a recommended approach to achieve this, I would greatly appreciate your guidance.
Also, if this is not possible due to iOS version or API limitations, I would be grateful if you could share any best practices for limiting user options in this scenario.
If anyone has experienced a similar issue, your advice would be very helpful. Thank you in advance.
Using personal physical iPhone for simulations. Can't get Keychain to read or store AppleID name/email. I want to avoid hard reseting physical phone.
Logs confirm Keychain is working, but userIdentifier and savedEmail are not being stored correctly.
🔄 Initializing UserManager...
✅ Saved testKeychain to Keychain: Test Value
✅ Retrieved testKeychain from Keychain: Test Value
🔍 Keychain Test - Retrieved Value: Test Value
⚠️ Keychain Retrieve Warning: No stored value found for userIdentifier
⚠️ Keychain Retrieve Warning: No stored value found for savedEmail
🔍 Debug - Retrieved from Keychain: userIdentifier=nil, savedEmail=nil
⚠️ No stored userIdentifier in Keychain. User needs to sign in.
📦 Converting User to CKRecord: Unknown, No Email
✅ User saved locally: Unknown, No Email
✅ User saved to CloudKit: Unknown, No Email
Below UserManager.swift if someone can help troubleshoot. Or step by step tutorial to configure a project and build a User Login & User Account creation for Apple Only app.
import Foundation
import CloudKit
import AuthenticationServices
import SwiftData
@MainActor
class UserManager: ObservableObject {
@Published var user: User?
@Published var isLoggedIn = false
@Published var errorMessage: String?
private let database = CKContainer.default().publicCloudDatabase
init() {
print("🔄 Initializing UserManager...")
// 🔍 Keychain Debug Test
let testKey = "testKeychain"
KeychainHelper.shared.save("Test Value", forKey: testKey)
let retrievedValue = KeychainHelper.shared.retrieve(forKey: testKey)
print("🔍 Keychain Test - Retrieved Value: \(retrievedValue ?? "nil")")
fetchUser() // Continue normal initialization
}
// ✅ Sign in & Save User
func handleSignIn(_ authResults: ASAuthorization) {
guard let appleIDCredential = authResults.credential as? ASAuthorizationAppleIDCredential else {
errorMessage = "Error retrieving Apple credentials"
print("❌ ASAuthorization Error: Invalid credentials received")
return
}
let userIdentifier = appleIDCredential.user
let fullName = appleIDCredential.fullName?.givenName ?? retrieveSavedName()
var email = appleIDCredential.email ?? retrieveSavedEmail()
print("🔍 Apple Sign-In Data: userIdentifier=\(userIdentifier), fullName=\(fullName), email=\(email)")
// 🔄 If Apple doesn't return an email, check if it exists in Keychain
if appleIDCredential.email == nil {
print("⚠️ Apple Sign-In didn't return an email. Retrieving saved email from Keychain.")
}
// ✅ Store userIdentifier & email in Keychain
KeychainHelper.shared.save(userIdentifier, forKey: "userIdentifier")
KeychainHelper.shared.save(email, forKey: "savedEmail")
let newUser = User(fullName: fullName, email: email, userIdentifier: userIdentifier)
saveUserToCloudKit(newUser)
}
func saveUserToCloudKit(_ user: User) {
let record = user.toRecord()
Task {
do {
try await database.save(record)
DispatchQueue.main.async {
self.user = user
self.isLoggedIn = true
self.saveUserLocally(user)
print("✅ User saved to CloudKit: \(user.fullName), \(user.email)")
}
} catch {
DispatchQueue.main.async {
self.errorMessage = "Error saving user: \(error.localizedDescription)"
print("❌ CloudKit Save Error: \(error.localizedDescription)")
}
}
}
}
// ✅ Fetch User from CloudKit
func fetchUser() {
let userIdentifier = KeychainHelper.shared.retrieve(forKey: "userIdentifier")
let savedEmail = KeychainHelper.shared.retrieve(forKey: "savedEmail")
print("🔍 Debug - Retrieved from Keychain: userIdentifier=\(userIdentifier ?? "nil"), savedEmail=\(savedEmail ?? "nil")")
guard let userIdentifier = userIdentifier else {
print("⚠️ No stored userIdentifier in Keychain. User needs to sign in.")
return
}
let predicate = NSPredicate(format: "userIdentifier == %@", userIdentifier)
let query = CKQuery(recordType: "User", predicate: predicate)
Task { [weak self] in
guard let self = self else { return }
do {
let results = try await self.database.records(matching: query, resultsLimit: 1).matchResults
if let (_, result) = results.first {
switch result {
case .success(let record):
DispatchQueue.main.async {
let fetchedUser = User(record: record)
self.user = User(
fullName: fetchedUser.fullName,
email: savedEmail ?? fetchedUser.email,
userIdentifier: userIdentifier
)
self.isLoggedIn = true
self.saveUserLocally(self.user!)
print("✅ User loaded from CloudKit: \(fetchedUser.fullName), \(fetchedUser.email)")
}
case .failure(let error):
DispatchQueue.main.async {
print("❌ Error fetching user from CloudKit: \(error.localizedDescription)")
}
}
}
} catch {
DispatchQueue.main.async {
print("❌ CloudKit fetch error: \(error.localizedDescription)")
}
}
}
}
// ✅ Save User Locally
private func saveUserLocally(_ user: User) {
if let encoded = try? JSONEncoder().encode(user) {
UserDefaults.standard.set(encoded, forKey: "savedUser")
UserDefaults.standard.set(user.fullName, forKey: "savedFullName")
UserDefaults.standard.set(user.email, forKey: "savedEmail")
print("✅ User saved locally: \(user.fullName), \(user.email)")
} else {
print("❌ Local Save Error: Failed to encode user data")
}
}
// ✅ Retrieve Previously Saved Name
private func retrieveSavedName() -> String {
return UserDefaults.standard.string(forKey: "savedFullName") ?? "Unknown"
}
// ✅ Retrieve Previously Saved Email
private func retrieveSavedEmail() -> String {
return KeychainHelper.shared.retrieve(forKey: "savedEmail") ?? UserDefaults.standard.string(forKey: "savedEmail") ?? "No Email"
}
// ✅ Sign Out
func signOut() {
isLoggedIn = false
user = nil
UserDefaults.standard.removeObject(forKey: "savedUser")
print("🚪 Signed Out")
}
}
Topic:
Privacy & Security
SubTopic:
General
Tags:
Sign in with Apple
Authentication Services
iCloud Keychain Verification Codes
Hi Team,
I have created multiple certificates for macOS application. Below are the certificates created-
Apple Development Certificate
DeveloperID Installer Certificate
Apple Distribution Certificate
others certificates
Later, I have imported the all these above certificates in keychain-access.
Now, I tried to compile the code through Xcode. I am getting error for code signing certificate.
Warning: unable to build chain to self-signed root for signer "Apple Development: Amit (M2WMF2YERI)”
....
Command CodeSign failed with a nonzero exit code
When I checked the TeamID of User(Amit) I can see that his current TeamID is [P8ZW3W9R2Q].
There is mismatch of teamID in apple development certificate generation.
Note-
All certificates are generated with current TeamID[P8ZW3W9R2Q] of user (Amit) except Apple Development certificate which has been generated with TeamID [M2WMF2YERI] which is generated with old TeamID of user (Amit).
I attempted to generate the apple development certificate multiple times but it is getting generated with old TeamID TeamID[M2WMF2YERI] of user(Amit)
Summary-
While creating a developer certificate using apple developer account and mapping it in keychain, the certificate is being generated with old apple account details (Inactive) instead of the current one. This is causing issues when using the certificate in keychain.
If anyone has encountered this issue, how it was resolved?
Topic:
Code Signing
SubTopic:
Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles
Tags:
iCloud Keychain Verification Codes