Expert demonstrated how to access contacts and photos from a locked iPhone XS

Expert discovered a passcode bypass vulnerability in Apple’s new iOS version 12 that could be exploited to access photos, contacts on a locked iPhone XS .

The Apple enthusiast and “office clerk” Jose Rodriguez has discovered a passcode bypass vulnerability in Apple’s new iOS version 12 that could be exploited by an attacker (with physical access to the iPhone) to access photos, contacts on a locked iPhone XS and other devices.

The hack works on the latest iOS 12 beta and iOS 12 operating systems, as demonstrated by Rodriguez in a couple of videos he published on YouTube (Videosdebarraquito).

The passcode bypass vulnerability affects a number of other iPhone models including the latest model iPhone XS.

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An attacker can access the images on the devices by editing a contact and changing the image associated with a specific caller.

Apple has addressed the issue allowing images to be viewed via contacts, but Rodriguez devised a new method to circumvent the mitigations implemented by Apple.

The attack exploits the VoiceOver feature that enables accessibility features on iPhone, for this reason, the vulnerable device needs to have Siri enabled and Face ID either turned off or physically covered.

A step by step guide for the Rodriguez’s attack was published by the website Gadget Hacks.

iPhone passcode bypass issues are not uncommon, in September 2015, Jose Rodriguez discovered that the iOS 9.0.1 Update failed to address a lock screen bypass vulnerability.

In November 2017, experts discovered a flaw in iOS 8 and newer versions of the Apple OS that allowed bypassing the iPhone Passcode protection, even when Touch ID was properly configured, and access photos and messages stored on the device.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – iPhone XS, hacking)

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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”.