IPhone running iOS 17.4 and later proved impossible to hack using Cellebrite

Israeli mobile forensics company Cellebrite encountered difficulties when trying to unlock (jailbreak) iPhones running iOS 17.4 and later, according to confidential documents obtained by the media.

Cellebrite, a company known for its tools for extracting data from mobile devices by law enforcement agencies, cannot 100% unlock iPhones of the latest versions of iOS, Mac Rumors reports, citing internal company documents obtained by 404 Media.

According to Cellebrite’s iOS Support Matrix, all locked iPhones running iOS 17.4 and later are listed as In Research. That is, at the moment there are no reliable ways to hack these devices. The limitation could affect a significant portion of current iPhones, as 77% of all iPhones and 87% of iPhones released in the last four years run iOS 17, according to Apple data from June.

Image source: 404media.co

The documents also show that Cellebrite recently added support for iPhone XR and iPhone 11 with iOS 17.1-17.3.1. However, for iPhone 12 and newer models with the same versions of iOS, the status is listed as “Coming soon”, which means that these devices cannot be unlocked as of today.

Additionally, another Cellebrite Android Support Matrix file mentions that Cellebrite can jailbreak most Android devices, but brute force and other methods will not work on a disabled Google Pixel 6, 7, or 8.

Image source: 404media.co

The situation calls into question Cellebrite’s claims that its service can retrieve passwords for “almost all modern mobile devices,” including the latest versions of iOS and Android. A company representative did not comment on this information. However, experts note that constant security improvements from Apple and other manufacturers are making the task of hacking devices increasingly difficult.

Cellebrite’s custom-built device (UFED) is widely used by law enforcement agencies around the world to extract data from mobile phones. The company gained attention in 2016 when it was hired to help the FBI unlock the iPhone 5c of San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook. Apple then refused to provide the FBI with the means to unlock his device. Although the FBI did not use Cellebrite’s services in this particular case, many US government agencies regularly work with Cellebrite.

Apple is constantly making improvements to the security of its operating systems to stay one step ahead of companies like Cellebrite, which develop hacking tools to gain unauthorized access to data on locked iOS devices.