The document summarizes a security audit performed on an iPhone. The researcher was able to gain root access to the iPhone using a default password for OpenSSH. They then analyzed over 2000 property list files, converting them to XML and searching for personal information like names, phone numbers, emails and call logs. The researcher extracted a significant amount of private data and notes that with malicious intent, data could also have been deleted or erased without a trace. Recommendations include changing default passwords, limiting app access to data, and not leaving wireless connections active when not in use.

1. Mobile Privacy and Security
With the iPhone
James Wernicke
April 28, 2007

2. Goal and Objectives
 Demonstrate weaknesses in accepted mobile
security and privacy practices.
 Evaluate the security and privacy features of the
iPhone.
 Perform a security audit on an iPhone.
 Develop a security application for the iPhone for
general users.
Objectives – Background – Specifications – Security Audit - Conclusion

3. Background
 Mobile devices are ubiquitous in today‟s society.
 3G networks and unlimited data plans continue to
rise in popularity.
Objectives – Background – Specifications – Security Audit - Conclusion

4. Background
 Mobile malware is becoming more prevalent.
 Stolen information includes emails, text messages,
contact lists, and browser history.
Objectives – Background – Specifications – Security Audit - Conclusion

5. Background
 No operating system is completely safe.
 Platforms are more familiar and easier to hack.
Objectives – Background – Specifications – Security Audit - Conclusion

6. Background
 The iPhone is no exception.
Source: http://seriot.ch/resources/talks_papers/iPhonePrivacy.pdf
Objectives – Background – Specifications – Security Audit - Conclusion

7. New Technologies, New Problems
 Limited resources
 Interface
 Touch displays
 Small displays
 Gestures
 Location tracking
 Always-on, high-speed connections
 Desktop-based operating systems
 Native web-based hybrid applications
 Accelerometers
Objectives – Background – Specifications – Security Audit - Conclusion

8. iPhone Specifications
 Communications
 GSM/EDGE, UMTS/HSDPA, Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g), Bluetooth
2.1 + EDR, and USB 2.0
 Display
 3.5-inch widescreen Multi-Touch display
 Recording
 3-megapixel camera, auto-focus, VGA recording up to 30
fps, geotagging
 Storage
 8, 16, or 32 GB
 Power
 Up to 300 hours standby, 12 hours talk, 9 hours Wi-Fi, 10
hours video, 30 hours audio
 Support for most common file formats.
Objectives – Background – Specifications – Security Audit - Conclusion

9. Software
 iPhone OS
 File system is “sandboxed” to protect critical system files
from third-party software.
 Key pieces of information stored in SQLite databases.
 Apps
 Thousands of apps for personal information management,
remote access and entertainment.
 No (official) firewall or anti-virus software.
 App development is open, but App Store checks apps for
malicious code before release.
 Jailbreaking
 Unlocks restrictions on the iPhone to allow full UNIX
functionality.
 As a negative consequence, it also removes safeguards.
Objectives – Background – Specifications – Security Audit - Conclusion

10. Test Subject
 The iPhone was heavily used containing
information including:
 Email
 Contacts
 Calendar
 Web browsing history
 Stored Wi-Fi networks
 Pictures and videos
 Maps
 Apps
 Jailbroken iPhone OS version 2.3.2
Objectives – Background – Specifications – Security Audit - Conclusion

11. iPhone Security Audit
1. Scan for transmissions.
2. Probe for information and possible
vulnerabilities.
3. Attempt to exploit vulnerabilities to gain
control.
4. If successful, attempt to find and retrieve
valuable information.
Objectives – Background – Specifications – Security Audit - Conclusion

12. Scanning and Probing Tools
 Ethereal
 Captures and analyzes data packets transmitted over the
air.
 Useful for determining what type of traffic a user is
transmitting (HTTP, FTP, SFTP)
 Nmap
 Probes an interface for details about its operating system
and ports.
Objectives – Background – Specifications – Security Audit - Conclusion

13. Exploiting Vulnerabilities
 192.168.0.73 found to be iPhone OS.
 Port 22 (OpenSSH) found open on it.
 OpenSSH installs with „alpine‟ as default password.
 Successfully penetrated device using default
password.
bash-4.0$ ssh root@192.168.0.73
root@192.168.0.73’s password:
iPhone:~ root# _
 Time to look for some information…
Objectives – Background – Specifications – Security Audit - Conclusion

14. Property Lists
 Property lists are often used to store a user's
settings, and information about applications.
<dict>
<key>Name</key>
<string>James Wernicke</string>
<key>Age</key>
<integer>29</integer>
</dict>
 The iPhone uses these files to store virtually all
personal information.
 Passcode is stored encrypted in the Keychain.
Objectives – Background – Specifications – Security Audit - Conclusion

15. Analyzing Property Lists
 Property lists cannot be read in their native binary
format.
private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/mobile$ cat .GlobalPreferences.plist
bplist00Ö
*[TVOutStatus[AppleLocale^AppleKeyboards_AppleKeyboardsExpanded^AppleLanguages_SBFor
mattedPhoneNumberÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿUen_US¡¯!"#$%&'()RenResRjaRfrRdeRnlRitRptUpt-
PTRdaRfiRnbRsvRkoWzh-HansWzh-HantRruRplRtrRukRarRhrRcsRelRheRroRskRthRidRms_1
(858) 603-5873
Objectives – Background – Specifications – Security Audit - Conclusion

16. Analyzing Property Lists
 Converted to XML format using plutil.
private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/mobile$ plutil -convert xml1
.GlobalPreferences.plist
Converted 1 files to XML format
private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/mobile$ cat .GlobalPreferences.plist
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN"
"http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>AppleKeyboards</key>
<array>
<string>en_US</string>
</array>
<key>AppleKeyboardsExpanded</key>
<integer>1</integer>
<key>AppleLanguages</key>
<key>SBFormattedPhoneNumber</key>
<string>1 (858) 603-5873</string>
<key>TVOutStatus</key>
<integer>-1</integer>
</dict>
</plist>
Objectives – Background – Specifications – Security Audit - Conclusion

17. Analyzing Property Lists
 Personal information can then be found and
extracted.
private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/mobile$ grep
PhoneNumber .*
.GlobalPreferences.plist:
<key>SBFormattedPhoneNumber</key>
/private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/mobile$ plutil -
key SBFormattedPhoneNumber .GlobalPreferences.plist
1 (858) 603-5873
Objectives – Background – Specifications – Security Audit - Conclusion

18. Analyzing Property Lists
 Personal information can then be found and
extracted.
private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/mobile$ grep
PhoneNumber .*
.GlobalPreferences.plist:
<key>SBFormattedPhoneNumber</key>
/private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/mobile$ plutil -
key SBFormattedPhoneNumber .GlobalPreferences.plist
1 (858) 603-5873
Objectives – Background – Specifications – Security Audit - Conclusion

19. Analyzing Property Lists
 Over 2000 property lists were found on the test
iPhone.
 Analyzing each by hand would be very expensive.
 Program developed to find property lists,
convert them to XML, search for common
keywords, and retrieve their values.
 plister.sh
 plbackup.sh
 plist2xml.sh
 keyfinder.sh
 Future development to lead to security app.
Objectives – Background – Specifications – Security Audit - Conclusion

20. Results
 Found identifying information about the device
passively by monitoring air traffic.
 Found open ports through probes.
 Gained root access to system through SSH exploit.
 Collected personal information.
 Name, phone number, and birthday
 Contact list and calendar
 Emails, text messages, and call logs
 Browsing history and bookmarks
 Pictures, songs and videos
 Could have also destroyed data including erasing
my tracks.
Objectives – Background – Specifications – Security Audit - Conclusion

21. Recommendations & Lessons Learned
 Open up the iPhone OS to security vendors.
 Use discretion when allowing apps to access
personal information.
 NEVER leave the default password active on your
OpenSSH server.
 Do not leave connections (3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth)
active when not in use.
 Do not use unprotected wireless networks.

22. References & Secondary Research
Pew Research Center. Internet & American Life Project. 2009. Survey. http://www.pewinternet.org/.
CTIA. A Generation Unplugged. s.l. : Harris Interactive, 2008. Research Study.
http://files.ctia.org/pdf/HI_TeenMobileStudy_ResearchReport.pdf.
Radwanick, Sarah. The 2009 U.S. Digital Year in Review. s.l. : comScore, 2010. p. 13, Whitepaper.
http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Presentations_Whitepapers/2010/The_2009_U.S._Digital_Year_in_Review.
Gostev, Alexander. Mobile Malware Evolution: An Overview, Part 3. SECURELIST. [Online] September 29, 2009. [Cited:
April 1, 2010.] http://www.viruslist.com/analysis/?pubid=204792080.
Weiss, Gregg. Staggering iPhone App Development Statistics Unveiled at Macworld 2010. prMac.com. [Online]
February 3, 2010. [Cited: April 1, 2010.] http://prmac.com/release-id-10499.htm.
Hughes, Neil. Piper: 15.8M US iPhone sales in 2010, even without Verizon. AppleInsider. [Online] January 6, 2010. [Cited:
April 1, 2010.]
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/01/06/piper_15_8m_us_iphone_sales_in_2010_even_without_verizon.html.
Cheng, Jacqui. The truth about the iPhone's sales numbers. Ars Technica. [Online] January 23, 2008. [Cited: April 1,
2010.] http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2008/01/the-truth-about-the-iphones-sales-numbers.ars.
Rubicon Consulting. The Apple iPhone: Successes and Challenges for the Mobile Industry. 2008.
http://rubiconconsulting.com/downloads/whitepapers/Rubicon-iPhone_User_Survey.pdf.
Seriot, Nicolas. iPhone Privacy. 2010. Technical Report. http://seriot.ch/resources/talks_papers/iPhonePrivacy.pdf.
Pwn2Own 2010: iPhone hacked, SMS database hijacked. ZDNet. [Online] March 24, 2010. [Cited: April 1, 2010.]
http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=5836.
A look back at the iTunes App Store - Part I: Explosive Growth. Edible Apple. [Online] July 8, 2009. [Cited: April 1, 2010.]
http://www.edibleapple.com/a-look-back-at-the-itunes-app-store-part-i-explosive-growth/.

23. Questions?

24. Sandboxing Rules
(version 1) (allow file-write*
(deny default) (regex "^/private/var/tmp/UpdatedSnapshots/$"))
; Sandbox violations get logged to syslog via kernel logging. ; Permit reading and writing in the App container
(debug deny) (allow file-read*
(allow sysctl-read) (regex "^/private/var/mobile/Applications/
; Mount / umount commands XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX(/|$)"))
(deny file-write-mount file-write-umount) (allow file-write*
; System is read only (regex "^/private/var/mobile/Applications/
(allow file-read*) XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-
(deny file-write*) XXXXXXXXXXXX/(tmp|Library|Documents)(/|$)"))
; NOTE: Later rules override earlier rules. (allow process-exec
; Private areas (regex #"^/private/var/mobile/Applications/
(deny file-write* XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-
(regex "^/private/var/mobile/Applications/.*$")) XXXXXXXXXXXX/.*.app(/|$)"))
(deny file-read* ; Allow Address book access via filesystem
(regex "^/private/var/mobile/Applications/.*$")) ; This is an SQLite3 database - there is room to make the rules
; SQLite uses /private/var/tmp tighter
; TBR: <rdar://problem/5805879> SQLite doesn’t honor (allow file-write*
; the TMPDIR environment variable (regex "^/private/var/mobile/Library/AddressBook(/|$)"))
(allow file-write* (allow file-read*
(regex "^/private/var/tmp(/|$)")) (regex "^/private/var/mobile/Library/AddressBook(/|$)"))
(allow file-read* ; Allow keyboard db access via filesystem
(regex "^/private/var/tmp(/|$)")) ; This is a custom file format. There is room to make the rules
; TBR: <rdar://problem/5806524> tighter
(allow process-exec (allow file-write*
(regex "^/private/var/tmp$")) (regex "^/private/var/mobile/Library(/Keyboard)?(/|$)"))
; TBR: <rdar://problem/5830139> (allow file-read*

25. Sandboxing Rules
(regex "^/private/var/mobile/Library(/Keyboard)?(/|$)")) ; (allow network-outbound)
; Pictures, but not other media ; (to unix-socket "/private/var/run/asl_input"))
; Allow photo access via filesystem. There is room to make the rules (allow network*)
tighter ; To allow crash reporter / exceptions to kill the process
(deny file-write* (allow signal (target self))
(regex "^/private/var/mobile/Media(/|$)"))
(deny file-read*
(regex "^/private/var/mobile/Media/"))
(allow file-write*
(regex "^/private/var/mobile/Media/com.apple.itunes.lock_sync$"))
(allow file-read*
(regex "^/private/var/mobile/Media/com.apple.itunes.lock_sync$"))
(allow file-write*
(regex "^/private/var/mobile/Media/DCIM(/|$)"))
(allow file-read*
(regex "^/private/var/mobile/Media/DCIM(/|$)"))
(allow file-read*
(regex "^/private/var/mobile/Media/Photos(/|$)"))
; Mach lookups. There is room to make the rule tighter.
(allow mach-lookup)
;; (global-name "PurpleSystemEventPort")
;; (global-name "com.apple.CARenderServer")
;; (global-name "com.apple.eventpump")
;; (global-name "com.apple.springboard.migserver")
;; (global-name "com.apple.system.notification_center"))
(deny process-fork)
; For ASL logs - /var/run/asl_input (XXX: socket can now be named)

30. More Results
Type Results Google Maps Yes
Call logs 100 Voicemail 0
SMS 120 Password No
Contacts 1511 Plists/XML Yes
Email 512 Phone Info Yes
Calendar 3188 Video 0
Notes 1 Podcasts 0
Pictures 27 Speed Dials Found
Songs 2359 VPN List of trusted networks found
Web History Yes Bluetooth Enabled
Bookmarks Some GPS No
Cookies Bank of America File hashes Yes
App Info Yes YouTube Found recently viewed videos
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