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Secure the data your app manages and control access to your app using the Security framework.

Posts under Security tag

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How to satisfy a custom Authorization Right?
I’m implementing a custom Authorization right with the following rule: <key>authenticate-user</key> <true/> <key>allow-root</key> <true/> <key>class</key> <string>user</string> <key>group</key> <string>admin</string> The currently logged-in user is a standard user, and I’ve created a hidden admin account, e.g. _hiddenadmin, which has UID≠0 but belongs to the admin group. From my Authorization Plug-in, I would like to programmatically satisfy this right using _hiddenadmin’s credentials, even though _hiddenadmin is not the logged-in user. My question: Is there a way to programmatically satisfy an authenticate-user right from an Authorization Plug-in using credentials of another (non-session) user?
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220
Jul ’25
Requesting Guidance on ATS Exception for Local USB Communication with Embedded Device (Self-Signed Cert)
Hello Apple Developer Team, We’re preparing a future version of our enterprise app, Lenovo XClarity Mobile, and would like to request guidance regarding a potential ATS exception scenario. Context: The app is used exclusively in enterprise environments. It connects via USB to a local Lenovo Think Server (embedded device). The connection is entirely offline (no internet use). The app uses SSDP to discover the device over the USB-attached local network. Communication occurs via HTTPS over 192.168.x.x, tunneled through the USB interface. The server uses a factory-generated self-signed certificate. Planned Behavior: In a future release, we plan to prompt the user with a certificate trust confirmation if a self-signed cert is detected locally. Only if the user explicitly agrees, the connection proceeds. Here’s a simplified code example: if challenge.protectionSpace.authenticationMethod == NSURLAuthenticationMethodServerTrust, let serverTrust = challenge.protectionSpace.serverTrust { let accepted = UserDefaults.standard.bool(forKey: "AcceptInvalidCertificate") if accepted { let credential = URLCredential(trust: serverTrust) completionHandler(.useCredential, credential) return } // Show user confirmation alert before accepting } **Key Notes:** This logic is not in the current App Store version. ATS is fully enforced in production today. The exception would only apply to USB-based local sessions, not to internet endpoints. Question: Would such an implementation be acceptable under App Store and platform guidelines, given the restricted use case (offline, USB-only, user-confirmed self-signed certs)? We're looking for pre-approval or confirmation before investing further in development. Thank you in advance!
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199
Jul ’25
Detecting SIM Swap and Implementing SIM Binding in iOS
Hi Forum, We’re building a security-focused SDK for iOS that includes SIM Binding and SIM Swap detection to help prevent fraud and unauthorised device access, particularly in the context of banking and fintech apps. We understand that iOS limits access to SIM-level data, and that previously available APIs (such as those in CoreTelephony, now deprecated from iOS 16 onwards) provide only limited support for these use cases. We have a few questions and would appreciate any guidance from the community or Apple engineers: Q1. Are there any best practices or Apple-recommended approaches for binding a SIM to a device or user account? Q2. Is there a reliable way to detect a SIM swap when the app is not running (e.g., via system callback, entitlement, or background mechanism)? Q3. Are fields like GID1, GID2, or ICCID accessible through any public APIs or entitlements (such as com.apple.coretelephony.IdentityAccess)? If so, what is the process to request access? Q4. For dual SIM and eSIM scenarios, is there a documented approach to identify which SIM is active or whether a SIM slot has changed? Q5. In a banking or regulated environment, is it possible for an app vendor (e.g., a bank) to acquire certain entitlements from Apple and securely expose that information to a security SDK like ours? What would be the compliant or recommended way to structure such a partnership? Thanks in advance for any insights!
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847
Jul ’25
How to verify with the appropriate signing authority that Apple signed the public key
Hello I trying to implement authentication via apple services in unity game with server made as another unity app On client side I succesfully got teamPlayerID signature salt timestamp publicKeyUrl According to this documentation https://developer.apple.com/documentation/gamekit/gklocalplayer/fetchitems(foridentityverificationsignature:)?language=objc I have to Verify with the appropriate signing authority that Apple signed the public key. As I said my server is special build of unity project So now I have this kind of C# programm to check apple authority over public certificate i got from publicKeyUrl TextAsset textAsset; byte[] bytes; textAsset = Resources.Load<TextAsset>("AppleRootCA-G3"); bytes = textAsset.bytes; rootCert.ChainPolicy.ExtraStore.Add(new X509Certificate2(bytes)); textAsset = Resources.Load<TextAsset>("AppleRootCA-G2"); bytes = textAsset.bytes; rootCert.ChainPolicy.ExtraStore.Add(new X509Certificate2(bytes)); textAsset = Resources.Load<TextAsset>("AppleIncRootCertificate"); bytes = textAsset.bytes; rootCert.ChainPolicy.ExtraStore.Add(new X509Certificate2(bytes)); rootCert.Build(cert); Where cert is X509Certificate2 object I ge from publicKeyUrl AppleIncRootCertificate AppleRootCA-G2 AppleRootCA-G3 is certificates I got from https://www.apple.com/certificateauthority/ But it is not work Anytime rootCert.Build(cert); return false Why it is not work? May be I build keychain using wrong root CA cert? Or whole approach incorrect? Please help
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428
Jun ’25
Custom Authorization Plugin in Login Flow
What Has Been Implemented Replaced the default loginwindow:login with a custom authorization plugin. The plugin: Performs primary OTP authentication. Displays a custom password prompt. Validates the password using Open Directory (OD) APIs. Next Scenario was handling password change Password change is simulated via: sudo pwpolicy -u robo -setpolicy "newPasswordRequired=1" On next login: Plugin retrieves the old password. OD API returns kODErrorCredentialsPasswordChangeRequired. Triggers a custom change password window to collect and set new password. Issue Observed : After changing password: The user’s login keychain resets. Custom entries under the login keychain are removed. We have tried few solutions Using API, SecKeychainChangePassword(...) Using CLI, security set-keychain-password -o oldpwd -p newpwd ~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain-db These approaches appear to successfully change the keychain password, but: On launching Keychain Access, two password prompts appear, after authentication, Keychain Access window doesn't appear (no app visibility). Question: Is there a reliable way (API or CLI) to reset or update the user’s login keychain password from within the custom authorization plugin, so: The keychain is not reset or lost. Keychain Access works normally post-login. The password update experience is seamless. Thank you for your help and I appreciate your time and consideration
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965
Jun ’25
Strange Pattern of Subscriptions + Refunds — Possible Abuse?
Hi everyone, I'm an indie developer and recently noticed some odd behavior in my app's subscription metrics. There’s been a sudden spike in annual subscriptions, which is very unusual for my app — historically, users rarely choose that option. What’s more concerning is that these subscriptions are almost immediately canceled and refunded. Upon checking analytics (RevenueCat + App Store Connect), I also noticed inconsistencies in user location data: users appear to be from one region (like Singapore), but deeper tracking shows actual usage from Vietnam, a market I’ve never targeted and where I do no advertising. This behavior seems coordinated and is affecting my app’s refund rate, which I worry could raise red flags on the App Store side. Has anyone experienced anything similar? Is there a recommended way to report suspicious subscription/refund activity to Apple or prevent potential abuse like this? Any advice would be really appreciated. Thanks!
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123
Jun ’25
Terrible news. "sysctl -a" works as intended in macOS ! Great news for macOS developers
This is great for writing device drivers and somewhat fine tuning macOS for performance! And somewhat foresnical data (ie this matches that in this situation; ie kern.stack_size: 16384 vs allocating x, xy, xyz to this resource Good luck! and if you find any exploits the bug security line (and there is a bug bounty, that means they pay for exploits!) is product hyphen security at apple dot com Good luck !! unidef (also don't goto unidef.org its actually some kind of "troll" thing!) (and yeah I had a website =/)
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135
Jun ’25
Apple could not verify `app` is free of malware
Hello, I'm working on an app at work and we finally got to signing and notarizing the app. The app is successfully notarized and stapled, I packaged it in a .dmg using hdiutil and went ahead and notarized and stapled that as well. Now I tried to move this app to another machine through various methods. But every time I download it from another machine, open and extract the contents of the dmg and attempt to open the app, I get the "Apple could not verify my app is free of malware that may harm your Mac or compromise your privacy. When I check the extended attributes there's always the com.apple.quarantine attribute which from what I know, is the reason that this popup appears I've tried uploading it to google drive, sending through slack, onedrive, even tried our AWS servers and last but not least, I tried our Azure servers (which is what we use for distribution of the windows version of our app). I tried uploading to Azure through CloudBerry (MSP360 now), and azure-cli defining the content-type as "application/octet-stream", the content-disposition as "attachment; filename=myApp.dmg", and content-cache-control as "no-transform". None of these worked The only times where a download actually worked with no problems was when I downloaded through the terminal using curl, which obviously not a great solution especially that we're distributing to users who aren't exactly "tech savy" I want the installation experience to be as smooth as other apps outside the App Store (i.e Discord, Slack, Firefox, Chrome etc....) but I've been stuck on this for more than a week with no luck. Any help is greatly appreciated, and if you want me to clarify something further I'd be happy to do so
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1.1k
Jun ’25
Auth Plugin Timeout Issue During Screen Unlock
Hi! We are developing an authentication plugin for macOS that integrates with the system's authentication flow. The plugin is designed to prompt the user for approval via a push notification in our app before allowing access. The plugin is added as the first mechanism in the authenticate rule, followed by the default builtin:authenticate as a fallback. When the system requests authentication (e.g., during screen unlock), our plugin successfully displays the custom UI and sends a push notification to the user's device. However, I've encountered the following issue: If the user does not approve the push notification within ~30 seconds, the system resets the screen lock (expected behavior). If the user approves the push notification within approximately 30 seconds but doesn’t start entering their password before the timeout expires, the system still resets the screen lock before they can enter their password, effectively canceling the session. What I've Tried: Attempted to imitate mouse movement after the push button was clicked to keep the session active. Created a display sleep prevention assertion using IOKit to prevent the screen from turning off. Used the caffeinate command to keep the display and system awake. Tried setting the result as allow for the authorization request and passing an empty password to prevent the display from turning off. I also checked the system logs when this issue occurred and found the following messages: ___loginwindow: -[LWScreenLock (Private) askForPasswordSecAgent] | localUser = >timeout loginwindow: -[LWScreenLock handleUnlockResult:] _block_invoke | ERROR: Unexpected _lockRequestedBy of:7 sleeping screen loginwindow: SleepDisplay | enter powerd: Process (loginwindow) is requesting display idle___ These messages suggest that the loginwindow process encounters a timeout condition, followed by the display entering sleep mode. Despite my attempts to prevent this behavior, the screen lock still resets prematurely. Questions: Is there a documented (or undocumented) system timeout for the entire authentication flow during screen unlock that I cannot override? Are there any strategies for pausing or extending the authentication timeout to allow for complex authentication flows like push notifications? Any guidance or insights would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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704
Jun ’25
Secure data transfer
Hi! We are planning to build an app for a research project that collects sensitive information (such as symptoms, photos and audio). We don't want to store this data locally on the phone or within the app but rather have it securely transferred to a safe SFTP server. Is it possible to implement this i iOS, and if so, does anyone have any recommendations on how to do this?
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140
Jun ’25
Identity Pinning and reduction of maximum validity period
The CA/Browser Forum has voted (cf. https://groups.google.com/a/groups.cabforum.org/g/servercert-wg/c/9768xgUUfhQ?pli=1) to eventually reduce the maximum validity period for a SSL certificate from 398 days to 47 days by March 2029. This makes statically pinning a leaf certificate rather challenging. What are the consequences for App Transport Security Identity Pinning as it exists today?
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179
Jun ’25
Certificate Trust Failing in Latest OS Releases
Trying to apply 'always trust' to certificate added to keychain using both SecItemAdd() and SecPKCS12Import() with SecTrustSettingsSetTrustSettings(). I created a launchdaemon for this purpose. AuthorizationDB is modified so that any process running in root can apply trust to certificate. let option = SecTrustSettingsResult.trustRoot.rawValue // SecTrustSettingsResult.trustAsRoot.rawValue for non-root certificates let status = SecTrustSettingsSetTrustSettings(secCertificate, SecTrustSettingsDomain.admin, [kSecTrustSettingsResult: NSNumber(value: option.rawValue)] as CFTypeRef). Above code is used to trust certificates and it was working on os upto 14.7.4. In 14.7.5 SecTrustSettingsSetTrustSettings() returns errAuthorizationInteractionNotAllowed. In 15.5 modifying authorization db with AuthorizationRightSet() itself is returning errAuthorizationDenied.Tried manually editing authorization db via terminal and same error occurred. Did apple update anything on Security framework? Any other way to trust certificates?
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330
Jun ’25
Using provision profile to access assessments triggers a keychain popup
Hello! I do know apple does not support electron, but I do not think this is an electron related issue, rather something I am doing wrong. I'd be curious to find out why the keychain login is happenning after my app has been signed with the bundleid, entitlements, and provision profile. Before using the provision profile I did not have this issue, but it is needed for assessments feature. I'm trying to ship an Electron / macOS desktop app that must run inside Automatic Assessment Configuration. The build signs and notarizes successfully, and assessment mode itself starts on Apple-arm64 machines, but every single launch shows the system dialog that asks to allow access to the "login" keychain. The dialog appears on totally fresh user accounts, so it's not tied to anything I store there. It has happened ever since I have added the provision profile to the electron builder to finally test assessment out. entitlements.inherit.plist keys <key>com.apple.security.cs.allow-jit</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.security.cs.allow-unsigned-executable-memory</key> <true/> entitlements.plist keys: <key>com.apple.security.cs.allow-jit</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.security.cs.allow-unsigned-executable-memory</key> <true/> <key>com.apple.developer.automatic-assessment-configuration</key> <true/> I'm honestly not sure whether the keychain is expected, but I have tried a lot of entitlement combinations to get rid of It. Electron builder is doing the signing, and we manually use the notary tool to notarize but probably irrelevant. mac: { notarize: false, target: 'dir', entitlements: 'buildResources/entitlements.mac.plist', provisioningProfile: 'buildResources/xyu.provisionprofile', entitlementsInherit: 'buildResources/entitlements.mac.inherit.plist', Any lead is welcome!
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520
Jun ’25
How to update the lock icon and text on the initial unlock Screen with SFAutorizationPluginView.
Step1. Update system.login.screensaver authorizationdb rule to use “authenticate-session-owner-or-admin”( to get old SFAutorizationPluginView at Lock Screen ). Here I will use my custom authorization plugin. Step 2. Once the rule is in place, logout and login, now click on Apple icon and select “Lock Screen”. Is there a way programmatically to update the Lock Icon and the test getting displayed on the first Unlock screen? When I write a custom authorisation plug-in, I am getting control of the text fields and any consecutive screen I add from there on. But all I want is to update the lock icon and text fields on 1st unlock display itself. Can you please suggest how I can achieve this? Here is the screenshot with marked areas I am looking control for.
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370
Jun ’25
TLS communication error between iPhone and iPad
We are implementing a connection between iPad and iPhone devices using LocalPushConnectivity, and have introduced SimplePushProvider into the project. We will have it switch between roles of Server and Client within a single project. ※ iPad will be Server and the iPhone will be Client. Communication between Server and Client is via TLS, with Server reading p12 file and Client setting public key. Currently, a TLS error code of "-9836" (invalid protocol version) is occurring when communicating from Client's SimplePushProvider to Server. I believe that Client is sending TLS1.3, and Server is set to accept TLS1.2 to 1.3. Therefore, I believe that the actual error is not due to TLS protocol version, but is an error that is related to security policy or TLS communication setting. Example: P12 file does not meet some requirement NWProtocolTLS.Options setting is insufficient etc... I'm not sure what the problem is, so please help. For reference, I will attach you implementation of TLS communication settings. P12 file is self-signed and was created by exporting it from Keychain Access. Test environment: iPad (OS: 16.6) iPhone (OS: 18.3.2) ConnectionOptions: TLS communication settings public enum ConnectionOptions { public enum TCP { public static var options: NWProtocolTCP.Options { let options = NWProtocolTCP.Options() options.noDelay = true options.enableFastOpen return options } } public enum TLS { public enum Error: Swift.Error { case invalidP12 case unableToExtractIdentity case unknown } public class Server { public let p12: URL public let passphrase: String public init(p12 url: URL, passphrase: String) { self.p12 = url self.passphrase = passphrase } public var options: NWProtocolTLS.Options? { guard let data = try? Data(contentsOf: p12) else { return nil } let pkcs12Options = [kSecImportExportPassphrase: passphrase] var importItems: CFArray? let status = SecPKCS12Import(data as CFData, pkcs12Options as CFDictionary, &importItems) guard status == errSecSuccess, let items = importItems as? [[String: Any]], let importItemIdentity = items.first?[kSecImportItemIdentity as String], let identity = sec_identity_create(importItemIdentity as! SecIdentity) else { return nil } let options = NWProtocolTLS.Options() sec_protocol_options_set_min_tls_protocol_version(options.securityProtocolOptions, .TLSv12) sec_protocol_options_set_max_tls_protocol_version(options.securityProtocolOptions, .TLSv13) sec_protocol_options_set_local_identity(options.securityProtocolOptions, identity) sec_protocol_options_append_tls_ciphersuite(options.securityProtocolOptions, tls_ciphersuite_t.RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256) return options } } public class Client { public let publicKeyHash: String private let dispatchQueue = DispatchQueue(label: "ConnectionParameters.TLS.Client.dispatchQueue") public init(publicKeyHash: String) { self.publicKeyHash = publicKeyHash } // Attempt to verify the pinned certificate. public var options: NWProtocolTLS.Options { let options = NWProtocolTLS.Options() sec_protocol_options_set_min_tls_protocol_version(options.securityProtocolOptions, .TLSv12) sec_protocol_options_set_max_tls_protocol_version(options.securityProtocolOptions, .TLSv13) sec_protocol_options_set_verify_block( options.securityProtocolOptions, verifyClosure, dispatchQueue ) return options } private func verifyClosure( secProtocolMetadata: sec_protocol_metadata_t, secTrust: sec_trust_t, secProtocolVerifyComplete: @escaping sec_protocol_verify_complete_t ) { let trust = sec_trust_copy_ref(secTrust).takeRetainedValue() guard let serverPublicKeyData = publicKey(from: trust) else { secProtocolVerifyComplete(false) return } let keyHash = cryptoKitSHA256(data: serverPublicKeyData) guard keyHash == publicKeyHash else { // Presented certificate doesn't match. secProtocolVerifyComplete(false) return } // Presented certificate matches the pinned cert. secProtocolVerifyComplete(true) } private func cryptoKitSHA256(data: Data) -> String { let rsa2048Asn1Header: [UInt8] = [ 0x30, 0x82, 0x01, 0x22, 0x30, 0x0d, 0x06, 0x09, 0x2a, 0x86, 0x48, 0x86, 0xf7, 0x0d, 0x01, 0x01, 0x01, 0x05, 0x00, 0x03, 0x82, 0x01, 0x0f, 0x00 ] let data = Data(rsa2048Asn1Header) + data let hash = SHA256.hash(data: data) return Data(hash).base64EncodedString() } private func publicKey(from trust: SecTrust) -> Data? { guard let certificateChain = SecTrustCopyCertificateChain(trust) as? [SecCertificate], let serverCertificate = certificateChain.first else { return nil } let publicKey = SecCertificateCopyKey(serverCertificate) return SecKeyCopyExternalRepresentation(publicKey!, nil)! as Data } } } }
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474
May ’25
"fdesetup add" appears to cause the loss of the Secure Token
Hello, I've noticed some unexpected behavior when updating a user's FileVault password. The set up: All actions are performed in virtualized macOS 14 and 15.5 guests on a 15.5 Apple Silicon host. FileVault is enabled. sjsp is a standard user with a Secure Token. The Mac is bound to AD, and the domain is reachable. Reproduction: systemctl -secureTokenStatus sjsp shows it's ENABLED. fdesetup remove -user sjsp fdesetup add -usertoadd sjsp systemctl -secureTokenStatus sjsp shows it's DISABLED. Surprisingly, sjsp is still able to unlock FileVault. Looking at unified logs for opendirectoryd and fdesetup, I see that a password change is being attempted in response to fdesetup add, which is unexpected. default 13:34:41.320883+0100 opendirectoryd Changing password for <private> (E5CC46D7-0C1F-4009-8421-9AA8217CB784) info 13:34:41.321317+0100 opendirectoryd No unlock record exists for E5CC46D7-0C1F-4009-8421-9AA8217CB784 info 13:34:41.321331+0100 opendirectoryd <private> (E5CC46D7-0C1F-4009-8421-9AA8217CB784) is not a SecureToken user: no unlock record default 13:34:41.321341+0100 opendirectoryd Changing password for <private> (E5CC46D7-0C1F-4009-8421-9AA8217CB784): user <private> SecureToken, only new password provided, credential <private> default 13:34:41.321454+0100 opendirectoryd Changing password for <private> (E5CC46D7-0C1F-4009-8421-9AA8217CB784) with no existing unlock record info 13:34:41.321857+0100 opendirectoryd No unlock record exists for E5CC46D7-0C1F-4009-8421-9AA8217CB784 default 13:34:41.321873+0100 opendirectoryd Record <private> (E5CC46D7-0C1F-4009-8421-9AA8217CB784) is eligible for SecureToken default 13:34:41.322637+0100 fdesetup DMAPFS cryptoUserForMacOSUserForVolume DMErr=-69594 retErr=-69594 outAPFSCryptoUser=(null) default 13:34:41.322699+0100 opendirectoryd While changing password for <private> (E5CC46D7-0C1F-4009-8421-9AA8217CB784): Not adding SecureToken; other unlock records exist, but no existing unlock record provided If I disconnect the network and follow the reproduction steps then the Secure Token is retained. Reconnecting and waiting a while doesn't cause the Secure Token to be lost. There are no log entries about attempting to change the password. Any help or explanation would be appreciated, thanks in advance.
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848
May ’25
User Data In-App Deletion for Government Apps
Hey, there are plans to design a government app. When a citizen will login they will see their passport, driving license etc... What is the solution of avoiding mandatory in-app user data deletion?
Replies
2
Boosts
0
Views
727
Activity
Jul ’25
How to satisfy a custom Authorization Right?
I’m implementing a custom Authorization right with the following rule: &lt;key&gt;authenticate-user&lt;/key&gt; &lt;true/&gt; &lt;key&gt;allow-root&lt;/key&gt; &lt;true/&gt; &lt;key&gt;class&lt;/key&gt; &lt;string&gt;user&lt;/string&gt; &lt;key&gt;group&lt;/key&gt; &lt;string&gt;admin&lt;/string&gt; The currently logged-in user is a standard user, and I’ve created a hidden admin account, e.g. _hiddenadmin, which has UID≠0 but belongs to the admin group. From my Authorization Plug-in, I would like to programmatically satisfy this right using _hiddenadmin’s credentials, even though _hiddenadmin is not the logged-in user. My question: Is there a way to programmatically satisfy an authenticate-user right from an Authorization Plug-in using credentials of another (non-session) user?
Replies
5
Boosts
0
Views
220
Activity
Jul ’25
Requesting Guidance on ATS Exception for Local USB Communication with Embedded Device (Self-Signed Cert)
Hello Apple Developer Team, We’re preparing a future version of our enterprise app, Lenovo XClarity Mobile, and would like to request guidance regarding a potential ATS exception scenario. Context: The app is used exclusively in enterprise environments. It connects via USB to a local Lenovo Think Server (embedded device). The connection is entirely offline (no internet use). The app uses SSDP to discover the device over the USB-attached local network. Communication occurs via HTTPS over 192.168.x.x, tunneled through the USB interface. The server uses a factory-generated self-signed certificate. Planned Behavior: In a future release, we plan to prompt the user with a certificate trust confirmation if a self-signed cert is detected locally. Only if the user explicitly agrees, the connection proceeds. Here’s a simplified code example: if challenge.protectionSpace.authenticationMethod == NSURLAuthenticationMethodServerTrust, let serverTrust = challenge.protectionSpace.serverTrust { let accepted = UserDefaults.standard.bool(forKey: "AcceptInvalidCertificate") if accepted { let credential = URLCredential(trust: serverTrust) completionHandler(.useCredential, credential) return } // Show user confirmation alert before accepting } **Key Notes:** This logic is not in the current App Store version. ATS is fully enforced in production today. The exception would only apply to USB-based local sessions, not to internet endpoints. Question: Would such an implementation be acceptable under App Store and platform guidelines, given the restricted use case (offline, USB-only, user-confirmed self-signed certs)? We're looking for pre-approval or confirmation before investing further in development. Thank you in advance!
Replies
1
Boosts
0
Views
199
Activity
Jul ’25
Detecting SIM Swap and Implementing SIM Binding in iOS
Hi Forum, We’re building a security-focused SDK for iOS that includes SIM Binding and SIM Swap detection to help prevent fraud and unauthorised device access, particularly in the context of banking and fintech apps. We understand that iOS limits access to SIM-level data, and that previously available APIs (such as those in CoreTelephony, now deprecated from iOS 16 onwards) provide only limited support for these use cases. We have a few questions and would appreciate any guidance from the community or Apple engineers: Q1. Are there any best practices or Apple-recommended approaches for binding a SIM to a device or user account? Q2. Is there a reliable way to detect a SIM swap when the app is not running (e.g., via system callback, entitlement, or background mechanism)? Q3. Are fields like GID1, GID2, or ICCID accessible through any public APIs or entitlements (such as com.apple.coretelephony.IdentityAccess)? If so, what is the process to request access? Q4. For dual SIM and eSIM scenarios, is there a documented approach to identify which SIM is active or whether a SIM slot has changed? Q5. In a banking or regulated environment, is it possible for an app vendor (e.g., a bank) to acquire certain entitlements from Apple and securely expose that information to a security SDK like ours? What would be the compliant or recommended way to structure such a partnership? Thanks in advance for any insights!
Replies
1
Boosts
0
Views
847
Activity
Jul ’25
Is there any public API apple provides to detect Lockdown Mode in iOS 16?
Hi, I was testing the lockdown mode in iOS 16 and would like to know whether we can detect the lockdown mode status using any public API that Apple provides. I really appreciate any help you can provide.
Replies
8
Boosts
0
Views
2.9k
Activity
Jun ’25
How to verify with the appropriate signing authority that Apple signed the public key
Hello I trying to implement authentication via apple services in unity game with server made as another unity app On client side I succesfully got teamPlayerID signature salt timestamp publicKeyUrl According to this documentation https://developer.apple.com/documentation/gamekit/gklocalplayer/fetchitems(foridentityverificationsignature:)?language=objc I have to Verify with the appropriate signing authority that Apple signed the public key. As I said my server is special build of unity project So now I have this kind of C# programm to check apple authority over public certificate i got from publicKeyUrl TextAsset textAsset; byte[] bytes; textAsset = Resources.Load&lt;TextAsset&gt;("AppleRootCA-G3"); bytes = textAsset.bytes; rootCert.ChainPolicy.ExtraStore.Add(new X509Certificate2(bytes)); textAsset = Resources.Load&lt;TextAsset&gt;("AppleRootCA-G2"); bytes = textAsset.bytes; rootCert.ChainPolicy.ExtraStore.Add(new X509Certificate2(bytes)); textAsset = Resources.Load&lt;TextAsset&gt;("AppleIncRootCertificate"); bytes = textAsset.bytes; rootCert.ChainPolicy.ExtraStore.Add(new X509Certificate2(bytes)); rootCert.Build(cert); Where cert is X509Certificate2 object I ge from publicKeyUrl AppleIncRootCertificate AppleRootCA-G2 AppleRootCA-G3 is certificates I got from https://www.apple.com/certificateauthority/ But it is not work Anytime rootCert.Build(cert); return false Why it is not work? May be I build keychain using wrong root CA cert? Or whole approach incorrect? Please help
Replies
1
Boosts
0
Views
428
Activity
Jun ’25
Custom Authorization Plugin in Login Flow
What Has Been Implemented Replaced the default loginwindow:login with a custom authorization plugin. The plugin: Performs primary OTP authentication. Displays a custom password prompt. Validates the password using Open Directory (OD) APIs. Next Scenario was handling password change Password change is simulated via: sudo pwpolicy -u robo -setpolicy "newPasswordRequired=1" On next login: Plugin retrieves the old password. OD API returns kODErrorCredentialsPasswordChangeRequired. Triggers a custom change password window to collect and set new password. Issue Observed : After changing password: The user’s login keychain resets. Custom entries under the login keychain are removed. We have tried few solutions Using API, SecKeychainChangePassword(...) Using CLI, security set-keychain-password -o oldpwd -p newpwd ~/Library/Keychains/login.keychain-db These approaches appear to successfully change the keychain password, but: On launching Keychain Access, two password prompts appear, after authentication, Keychain Access window doesn't appear (no app visibility). Question: Is there a reliable way (API or CLI) to reset or update the user’s login keychain password from within the custom authorization plugin, so: The keychain is not reset or lost. Keychain Access works normally post-login. The password update experience is seamless. Thank you for your help and I appreciate your time and consideration
Replies
2
Boosts
0
Views
965
Activity
Jun ’25
Strange Pattern of Subscriptions + Refunds — Possible Abuse?
Hi everyone, I'm an indie developer and recently noticed some odd behavior in my app's subscription metrics. There’s been a sudden spike in annual subscriptions, which is very unusual for my app — historically, users rarely choose that option. What’s more concerning is that these subscriptions are almost immediately canceled and refunded. Upon checking analytics (RevenueCat + App Store Connect), I also noticed inconsistencies in user location data: users appear to be from one region (like Singapore), but deeper tracking shows actual usage from Vietnam, a market I’ve never targeted and where I do no advertising. This behavior seems coordinated and is affecting my app’s refund rate, which I worry could raise red flags on the App Store side. Has anyone experienced anything similar? Is there a recommended way to report suspicious subscription/refund activity to Apple or prevent potential abuse like this? Any advice would be really appreciated. Thanks!
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123
Activity
Jun ’25
Terrible news. "sysctl -a" works as intended in macOS ! Great news for macOS developers
This is great for writing device drivers and somewhat fine tuning macOS for performance! And somewhat foresnical data (ie this matches that in this situation; ie kern.stack_size: 16384 vs allocating x, xy, xyz to this resource Good luck! and if you find any exploits the bug security line (and there is a bug bounty, that means they pay for exploits!) is product hyphen security at apple dot com Good luck !! unidef (also don't goto unidef.org its actually some kind of "troll" thing!) (and yeah I had a website =/)
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135
Activity
Jun ’25
Apple could not verify `app` is free of malware
Hello, I'm working on an app at work and we finally got to signing and notarizing the app. The app is successfully notarized and stapled, I packaged it in a .dmg using hdiutil and went ahead and notarized and stapled that as well. Now I tried to move this app to another machine through various methods. But every time I download it from another machine, open and extract the contents of the dmg and attempt to open the app, I get the "Apple could not verify my app is free of malware that may harm your Mac or compromise your privacy. When I check the extended attributes there's always the com.apple.quarantine attribute which from what I know, is the reason that this popup appears I've tried uploading it to google drive, sending through slack, onedrive, even tried our AWS servers and last but not least, I tried our Azure servers (which is what we use for distribution of the windows version of our app). I tried uploading to Azure through CloudBerry (MSP360 now), and azure-cli defining the content-type as "application/octet-stream", the content-disposition as "attachment; filename=myApp.dmg", and content-cache-control as "no-transform". None of these worked The only times where a download actually worked with no problems was when I downloaded through the terminal using curl, which obviously not a great solution especially that we're distributing to users who aren't exactly "tech savy" I want the installation experience to be as smooth as other apps outside the App Store (i.e Discord, Slack, Firefox, Chrome etc....) but I've been stuck on this for more than a week with no luck. Any help is greatly appreciated, and if you want me to clarify something further I'd be happy to do so
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1.1k
Activity
Jun ’25
Auth Plugin Timeout Issue During Screen Unlock
Hi! We are developing an authentication plugin for macOS that integrates with the system's authentication flow. The plugin is designed to prompt the user for approval via a push notification in our app before allowing access. The plugin is added as the first mechanism in the authenticate rule, followed by the default builtin:authenticate as a fallback. When the system requests authentication (e.g., during screen unlock), our plugin successfully displays the custom UI and sends a push notification to the user's device. However, I've encountered the following issue: If the user does not approve the push notification within ~30 seconds, the system resets the screen lock (expected behavior). If the user approves the push notification within approximately 30 seconds but doesn’t start entering their password before the timeout expires, the system still resets the screen lock before they can enter their password, effectively canceling the session. What I've Tried: Attempted to imitate mouse movement after the push button was clicked to keep the session active. Created a display sleep prevention assertion using IOKit to prevent the screen from turning off. Used the caffeinate command to keep the display and system awake. Tried setting the result as allow for the authorization request and passing an empty password to prevent the display from turning off. I also checked the system logs when this issue occurred and found the following messages: ___loginwindow: -[LWScreenLock (Private) askForPasswordSecAgent] | localUser = >timeout loginwindow: -[LWScreenLock handleUnlockResult:] _block_invoke | ERROR: Unexpected _lockRequestedBy of:7 sleeping screen loginwindow: SleepDisplay | enter powerd: Process (loginwindow) is requesting display idle___ These messages suggest that the loginwindow process encounters a timeout condition, followed by the display entering sleep mode. Despite my attempts to prevent this behavior, the screen lock still resets prematurely. Questions: Is there a documented (or undocumented) system timeout for the entire authentication flow during screen unlock that I cannot override? Are there any strategies for pausing or extending the authentication timeout to allow for complex authentication flows like push notifications? Any guidance or insights would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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3
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2
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704
Activity
Jun ’25
Secure data transfer
Hi! We are planning to build an app for a research project that collects sensitive information (such as symptoms, photos and audio). We don't want to store this data locally on the phone or within the app but rather have it securely transferred to a safe SFTP server. Is it possible to implement this i iOS, and if so, does anyone have any recommendations on how to do this?
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1
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140
Activity
Jun ’25
App Keychain will sync secitem from old device to new device
In my app, I use SecItem to store some data in the Keychain. I’d like to know — when a user sets up a new iPhone and transfers data from the old device, will those Keychain items be migrated or synced to the new device?
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280
Activity
Jun ’25
Identity Pinning and reduction of maximum validity period
The CA/Browser Forum has voted (cf. https://groups.google.com/a/groups.cabforum.org/g/servercert-wg/c/9768xgUUfhQ?pli=1) to eventually reduce the maximum validity period for a SSL certificate from 398 days to 47 days by March 2029. This makes statically pinning a leaf certificate rather challenging. What are the consequences for App Transport Security Identity Pinning as it exists today?
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179
Activity
Jun ’25
Certificate Trust Failing in Latest OS Releases
Trying to apply 'always trust' to certificate added to keychain using both SecItemAdd() and SecPKCS12Import() with SecTrustSettingsSetTrustSettings(). I created a launchdaemon for this purpose. AuthorizationDB is modified so that any process running in root can apply trust to certificate. let option = SecTrustSettingsResult.trustRoot.rawValue // SecTrustSettingsResult.trustAsRoot.rawValue for non-root certificates let status = SecTrustSettingsSetTrustSettings(secCertificate, SecTrustSettingsDomain.admin, [kSecTrustSettingsResult: NSNumber(value: option.rawValue)] as CFTypeRef). Above code is used to trust certificates and it was working on os upto 14.7.4. In 14.7.5 SecTrustSettingsSetTrustSettings() returns errAuthorizationInteractionNotAllowed. In 15.5 modifying authorization db with AuthorizationRightSet() itself is returning errAuthorizationDenied.Tried manually editing authorization db via terminal and same error occurred. Did apple update anything on Security framework? Any other way to trust certificates?
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330
Activity
Jun ’25
Using provision profile to access assessments triggers a keychain popup
Hello! I do know apple does not support electron, but I do not think this is an electron related issue, rather something I am doing wrong. I'd be curious to find out why the keychain login is happenning after my app has been signed with the bundleid, entitlements, and provision profile. Before using the provision profile I did not have this issue, but it is needed for assessments feature. I'm trying to ship an Electron / macOS desktop app that must run inside Automatic Assessment Configuration. The build signs and notarizes successfully, and assessment mode itself starts on Apple-arm64 machines, but every single launch shows the system dialog that asks to allow access to the "login" keychain. The dialog appears on totally fresh user accounts, so it's not tied to anything I store there. It has happened ever since I have added the provision profile to the electron builder to finally test assessment out. entitlements.inherit.plist keys &lt;key&gt;com.apple.security.cs.allow-jit&lt;/key&gt; &lt;true/&gt; &lt;key&gt;com.apple.security.cs.allow-unsigned-executable-memory&lt;/key&gt; &lt;true/&gt; entitlements.plist keys: &lt;key&gt;com.apple.security.cs.allow-jit&lt;/key&gt; &lt;true/&gt; &lt;key&gt;com.apple.security.cs.allow-unsigned-executable-memory&lt;/key&gt; &lt;true/&gt; &lt;key&gt;com.apple.developer.automatic-assessment-configuration&lt;/key&gt; &lt;true/&gt; I'm honestly not sure whether the keychain is expected, but I have tried a lot of entitlement combinations to get rid of It. Electron builder is doing the signing, and we manually use the notary tool to notarize but probably irrelevant. mac: { notarize: false, target: 'dir', entitlements: 'buildResources/entitlements.mac.plist', provisioningProfile: 'buildResources/xyu.provisionprofile', entitlementsInherit: 'buildResources/entitlements.mac.inherit.plist', Any lead is welcome!
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520
Activity
Jun ’25
How to update the lock icon and text on the initial unlock Screen with SFAutorizationPluginView.
Step1. Update system.login.screensaver authorizationdb rule to use “authenticate-session-owner-or-admin”( to get old SFAutorizationPluginView at Lock Screen ). Here I will use my custom authorization plugin. Step 2. Once the rule is in place, logout and login, now click on Apple icon and select “Lock Screen”. Is there a way programmatically to update the Lock Icon and the test getting displayed on the first Unlock screen? When I write a custom authorisation plug-in, I am getting control of the text fields and any consecutive screen I add from there on. But all I want is to update the lock icon and text fields on 1st unlock display itself. Can you please suggest how I can achieve this? Here is the screenshot with marked areas I am looking control for.
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370
Activity
Jun ’25
Is there a way to change an imported exportable certificate to non-exportable?
Hi, A certificate imported on macOS 15 using the security command with the "non-exportable" option was imported in an exportable state. I would like to know how to change this certificate to be non-exportable. Regards, CTJ
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6
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441
Activity
May ’25
TLS communication error between iPhone and iPad
We are implementing a connection between iPad and iPhone devices using LocalPushConnectivity, and have introduced SimplePushProvider into the project. We will have it switch between roles of Server and Client within a single project. ※ iPad will be Server and the iPhone will be Client. Communication between Server and Client is via TLS, with Server reading p12 file and Client setting public key. Currently, a TLS error code of "-9836" (invalid protocol version) is occurring when communicating from Client's SimplePushProvider to Server. I believe that Client is sending TLS1.3, and Server is set to accept TLS1.2 to 1.3. Therefore, I believe that the actual error is not due to TLS protocol version, but is an error that is related to security policy or TLS communication setting. Example: P12 file does not meet some requirement NWProtocolTLS.Options setting is insufficient etc... I'm not sure what the problem is, so please help. For reference, I will attach you implementation of TLS communication settings. P12 file is self-signed and was created by exporting it from Keychain Access. Test environment: iPad (OS: 16.6) iPhone (OS: 18.3.2) ConnectionOptions: TLS communication settings public enum ConnectionOptions { public enum TCP { public static var options: NWProtocolTCP.Options { let options = NWProtocolTCP.Options() options.noDelay = true options.enableFastOpen return options } } public enum TLS { public enum Error: Swift.Error { case invalidP12 case unableToExtractIdentity case unknown } public class Server { public let p12: URL public let passphrase: String public init(p12 url: URL, passphrase: String) { self.p12 = url self.passphrase = passphrase } public var options: NWProtocolTLS.Options? { guard let data = try? Data(contentsOf: p12) else { return nil } let pkcs12Options = [kSecImportExportPassphrase: passphrase] var importItems: CFArray? let status = SecPKCS12Import(data as CFData, pkcs12Options as CFDictionary, &amp;importItems) guard status == errSecSuccess, let items = importItems as? [[String: Any]], let importItemIdentity = items.first?[kSecImportItemIdentity as String], let identity = sec_identity_create(importItemIdentity as! SecIdentity) else { return nil } let options = NWProtocolTLS.Options() sec_protocol_options_set_min_tls_protocol_version(options.securityProtocolOptions, .TLSv12) sec_protocol_options_set_max_tls_protocol_version(options.securityProtocolOptions, .TLSv13) sec_protocol_options_set_local_identity(options.securityProtocolOptions, identity) sec_protocol_options_append_tls_ciphersuite(options.securityProtocolOptions, tls_ciphersuite_t.RSA_WITH_AES_128_GCM_SHA256) return options } } public class Client { public let publicKeyHash: String private let dispatchQueue = DispatchQueue(label: "ConnectionParameters.TLS.Client.dispatchQueue") public init(publicKeyHash: String) { self.publicKeyHash = publicKeyHash } // Attempt to verify the pinned certificate. public var options: NWProtocolTLS.Options { let options = NWProtocolTLS.Options() sec_protocol_options_set_min_tls_protocol_version(options.securityProtocolOptions, .TLSv12) sec_protocol_options_set_max_tls_protocol_version(options.securityProtocolOptions, .TLSv13) sec_protocol_options_set_verify_block( options.securityProtocolOptions, verifyClosure, dispatchQueue ) return options } private func verifyClosure( secProtocolMetadata: sec_protocol_metadata_t, secTrust: sec_trust_t, secProtocolVerifyComplete: @escaping sec_protocol_verify_complete_t ) { let trust = sec_trust_copy_ref(secTrust).takeRetainedValue() guard let serverPublicKeyData = publicKey(from: trust) else { secProtocolVerifyComplete(false) return } let keyHash = cryptoKitSHA256(data: serverPublicKeyData) guard keyHash == publicKeyHash else { // Presented certificate doesn't match. secProtocolVerifyComplete(false) return } // Presented certificate matches the pinned cert. secProtocolVerifyComplete(true) } private func cryptoKitSHA256(data: Data) -&gt; String { let rsa2048Asn1Header: [UInt8] = [ 0x30, 0x82, 0x01, 0x22, 0x30, 0x0d, 0x06, 0x09, 0x2a, 0x86, 0x48, 0x86, 0xf7, 0x0d, 0x01, 0x01, 0x01, 0x05, 0x00, 0x03, 0x82, 0x01, 0x0f, 0x00 ] let data = Data(rsa2048Asn1Header) + data let hash = SHA256.hash(data: data) return Data(hash).base64EncodedString() } private func publicKey(from trust: SecTrust) -&gt; Data? { guard let certificateChain = SecTrustCopyCertificateChain(trust) as? [SecCertificate], let serverCertificate = certificateChain.first else { return nil } let publicKey = SecCertificateCopyKey(serverCertificate) return SecKeyCopyExternalRepresentation(publicKey!, nil)! as Data } } } }
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474
Activity
May ’25
"fdesetup add" appears to cause the loss of the Secure Token
Hello, I've noticed some unexpected behavior when updating a user's FileVault password. The set up: All actions are performed in virtualized macOS 14 and 15.5 guests on a 15.5 Apple Silicon host. FileVault is enabled. sjsp is a standard user with a Secure Token. The Mac is bound to AD, and the domain is reachable. Reproduction: systemctl -secureTokenStatus sjsp shows it's ENABLED. fdesetup remove -user sjsp fdesetup add -usertoadd sjsp systemctl -secureTokenStatus sjsp shows it's DISABLED. Surprisingly, sjsp is still able to unlock FileVault. Looking at unified logs for opendirectoryd and fdesetup, I see that a password change is being attempted in response to fdesetup add, which is unexpected. default 13:34:41.320883+0100 opendirectoryd Changing password for <private> (E5CC46D7-0C1F-4009-8421-9AA8217CB784) info 13:34:41.321317+0100 opendirectoryd No unlock record exists for E5CC46D7-0C1F-4009-8421-9AA8217CB784 info 13:34:41.321331+0100 opendirectoryd <private> (E5CC46D7-0C1F-4009-8421-9AA8217CB784) is not a SecureToken user: no unlock record default 13:34:41.321341+0100 opendirectoryd Changing password for <private> (E5CC46D7-0C1F-4009-8421-9AA8217CB784): user <private> SecureToken, only new password provided, credential <private> default 13:34:41.321454+0100 opendirectoryd Changing password for <private> (E5CC46D7-0C1F-4009-8421-9AA8217CB784) with no existing unlock record info 13:34:41.321857+0100 opendirectoryd No unlock record exists for E5CC46D7-0C1F-4009-8421-9AA8217CB784 default 13:34:41.321873+0100 opendirectoryd Record <private> (E5CC46D7-0C1F-4009-8421-9AA8217CB784) is eligible for SecureToken default 13:34:41.322637+0100 fdesetup DMAPFS cryptoUserForMacOSUserForVolume DMErr=-69594 retErr=-69594 outAPFSCryptoUser=(null) default 13:34:41.322699+0100 opendirectoryd While changing password for <private> (E5CC46D7-0C1F-4009-8421-9AA8217CB784): Not adding SecureToken; other unlock records exist, but no existing unlock record provided If I disconnect the network and follow the reproduction steps then the Secure Token is retained. Reconnecting and waiting a while doesn't cause the Secure Token to be lost. There are no log entries about attempting to change the password. Any help or explanation would be appreciated, thanks in advance.
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848
Activity
May ’25