Access Private Photos and Contacts Without a Passcode on iOS 9 devices

A hacker has found a way to access images and contacts stored on Apple iOS 9 devices even if they are protected with a passcode or Touch ID.

A few hours ago I have posted the news on the decision of the Security firm Zerodium to pay a 1 Million Dollars prize for zero-day exploits and jailbreak for the newborn iOS 9.

Now I discover that it is quite easy to access user’s personal photos and contact list stored in the iOs devices running iOS 9. According to colleagues at THEHACKERNEWS, a hacker has found a method to access private data even if the mobile device is protected with a passcode or Touch ID.

The hacker explained that using the Apple’s personal assistant Siri it is possible to access data on the mobile device running iOS 9 less than 30 seconds.

Below the detailed instructions to bypass the passcode:

Take the Apple device running the iOS 9 and enter an incorrect passcode four times.
Depending on the length of your passcode, for the fifth attempt enter 3 or 5 digits and for the last one, press and hold the Home button to run Siri immediately followed by the 4th digit.
Once Siri appears, ask the assistant for the time.
Tap the Clock icon to open the Clock app, and add a new Clock, then write anything in the Choose a City field.
Now double tap on the word you wrote to invoke the copy & paste menu, Select All and then click on “Share”.
Tap the ‘Message’ icon in the Share Sheet, and again type something random, hit Return and double tap on the contact name on the top.
Select “Create New Contact,” and Tap on “Add Photo” and then on “Choose Photo”.
At this point, you’ll now be able to access the entire photo library on the iOS device, which is still locked with a passcode. Now browse and view any photo from the Photo album individually.

Below the video proof of concept for the trick.

Despite such kind of hack doesn’t match the “Eligibility / Conditions” announced by Zerodium, it is interesting to note that is quite easy to bypass the basic security measures implemented by the IT giant for its new born iOS 9

Waiting for a patch, iOS users can disable Siri on the lock screen by modifying the settings of the device from

Settings > Touch ID & Passcode

Once disabled, users will be anyway able to continue using Siri after unlocked their iOS 9 based device.

Edited by Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – iOS 9, hacking)

Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.