iOS 27 userland on the 26.4 vphone600 kernel had SpringBoard crash-looping
with no display. Root cause: the IOKit user-client open path runs TWO
independent MAC gates -- a MACF-aggregator check (already patched by
patchIoucFailedMacf) and a separate Sandbox check -- and the Sandbox gate
spuriously DENIES the render server (backboardd) its opens of
IOMobileFramebufferUserClient / IOSurfaceRootUserClient / IOHIDEventService.
27-specific: absent on a native 26.4 userland. Denied the framebuffer,
backboardd can't present (no Apple logo) and vends no main display, so
FBSDisplayMonitor asserts on a nil mainDisplay -> crash-loop.
Add patchIoucFailedSandbox (KernelJBPatchIoucSandbox.swift), mirroring
patchIoucFailedMacf: anchor on the "IOUC %s failed sandbox in process %s"
string, find the deny block (the CBNZ target enclosing the fail-log ADRP),
and rewrite its first instruction with an unconditional B to the
NotPermitted allow-proceed target. Structural anchors only, no hardcoded
offsets. No-op where the gate already allows (native 26.x userlands).
Verified: backboardd opens the framebuffer, SpringBoard runs (0 crashes),
display enumerates (LCD/primary), [CADisplay mainDisplay] resolves, and the
guest GUI renders (confirmed visible over VNC).
Disable three earlier wrong-theory display patches (kept in-tree, off in
findAll, for the record):
- patchParavirtDisplayPrimary: setting primary=1 is actively HARMFUL on 27
-- it becomes the display NAME suffix ("primary-1") and breaks the render
server's exact-name match.
- patchIomfbSwapEnd{VariableSize,HandlerSize}: iOS 27 never uses IOMFB
method 5 (SwapEnd) for present -- confirmed by kernel trace of the real
handler (cmp w2,#0x588) with SpringBoard actively presenting -- so these
are irrelevant on 27 and would break 26.x's native 0x588 SwapEnd.
SwapEnd userland DSC size patch made per-base (cfw_install*, cfw.py,
cfw_patch_iomfb_swapend.py): 26.x validated, harmless on 27.
research/0_binary_patch_comparison.md updated (JB-10b added for the sandbox
gate; JB-02c corrected to disabled/wrong-theory).
Still open: the normal (VZ) render path stays black even though the guest
presents (VNC works) -- 27 uses a present mechanism the 26.4 paravirt-GPU
path doesn't receive. Tracked separately for follow-up.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <[email protected]>
Running iOS 27.0 userland on the 26.4 vphone600 kernel, every core platform
daemon (backboardd, cfprefsd, containermanagerd, locationd, CommCenter, ...)
died 3-5ms after xpcproxy spawn with exit reason namespace 9 / code 0x8
(OS_REASON_EXEC / EXEC_EXIT_REASON_SECURITY_POLICY). launchd throttled the
respawns and the boot deadlocked (all CPUs idle) before SpringBoard — no UI,
no networking. Root cause: AMFI's exec MAC hooks reject the 27.0 binaries'
code-sign validation category on the 26.4 kernel, setting imgp->ip_mac_return,
and XNU's exec path (kern_exec.c) SIGKILLs on `if (imgp->ip_mac_return != 0)`.
patch_exec_security_policy_kill flips the `cbz wN, <skip>` guard preceding the
os_reason_create(9,8) call to an unconditional `b <skip>`, making the kill block
unreachable — downstream of AMFI/TXM, so it covers the validation-category
reject regardless of which hook set the verdict. Anchored structurally (movz
w0,#9 ; movz w1,#8 preceded by ldr wN,[xM,#imm] ; cbz wN,<fwd>; W-register cbz
distinguishes the ip_mac_return site from the subsystem-root sibling). No-op in
effect for version-matched userlands (ip_mac_return == 0, so the cbz already
skips). Wired into the JB Group C dispatcher.
Validated on iPhone17,3_27.0_24A5380h + cloudOS 26.4 (c0ecdb4b): 0 SECURITY_POLICY
kills, core daemons launch, networking + SSH (dropbear :22222) come up. Remaining
gate: sandbox denies backboardd the IOMobileFramebuffer/IOSurface user clients,
so SpringBoard traps in FBSDisplayMonitor init (no display) -> UI not up yet.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <[email protected]>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_013pk5tsoBeuu3jhkmnRFtic
iOS 27.0's dyld shared cache (~5.95 GiB span) plus its 512 MiB header maxSlide
overflows the vphone600 26.x kernel's fixed 6 GiB shared region
(SHARED_REGION_SIZE_ARM64 = 0x180000000). At map time the kernel reserves
span + maxSlide, so _shared_region_map_and_slide returns ENOMEM, dyld cannot map
libSystem, and launchd (pid 1) panics at boot ("initproc failed to start").
Add cfw_patch_dsc_maxslide: zero the dyld_cache_header maxSlide (@0xF0) in the
main chunk when span + maxSlide exceeds the region, so the cache maps at slide 0
(iOS 27.0 fits with ~58 MiB spare). Self-gating (no-op for 26.x/18.x, which fit
with full slide) and no page re-attestation (header metadata, not a cs_validate'd
code page). Wired into cfw_install.sh after the IOMFB SwapEnd gate, so it applies
to regular/jb/exp (jb/exp run cfw_install.sh as their base).
Validated on iPhone17,3_27.0_24A5380h userland + cloudOS 26.4 (c0ecdb4b) JB:
dyld cache maps system-wide, launchd reaches first unlock, vphoned connects as
iOS 27.0.0, 0 panics.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <[email protected]>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_013pk5tsoBeuu3jhkmnRFtic
On a published GitHub Release, build vphone-cli.app on macos-26 via
`make bundle` (ad-hoc codesign + sources/vphone.entitlements, matching a
local build), verify the private virtualization entitlement is embedded,
then zip and upload the app as a release asset.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <[email protected]>
Sync the localized READMEs (ja/ko/zh) tested-environment tables to match
README.md: add the Mac16,11 27.0b2 / 17,3_18.6.2_22G100 / 26.1-23B85 row
and drop the redundant Mac16,8 26.5.1 / 17,3_26.1_23B85 entry.
Note in all four READMEs that GPU/Metal acceleration does not work on
iOS 18.x -- the 18.x Metal/IOGPU framework has no paravirtualized GPU
implementation, so Metal-rendered content (web, images, wallpaper) does
not render; touch, networking, and apps work.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <[email protected]>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01Q7gbWrtKLu8rFGmpXHmu9t
iOS 18.6.2 userland on the 26.1 vphone600 kernel has no working DNS: the
guest gets a correct resolver config (DHCP hands out 192.168.64.1, which
configd propagates to State:/Network/Global/DNS) and the path works (raw
UDP DNS to the gateway succeeds), but getaddrinfo fails EAI_NONAME because
mDNSResponder crash-loops. Every crash is identical: EXC_BREAKPOINT in
os_channel_create_extended, hit from Network.framework flow setup
(nw_channel_create_with_attributes). That is a skywalk userspace-channel
trap: the 26.1 kernel advertises skywalk, Network.framework tries to create
a flowswitch channel for its DNS flow, the channel-create syscall trips a
fatal trap in the 18.6.2 libsystem_kernel, and the resolver daemon dies.
26.x userland handles this path; 18.6.2 does not.
Fix: set boot-arg if_attach_nx=0x3 (SKYWALK_NETWORKING_BSD_ONLY =
IF_ATTACH_NX_NETIF_COMPAT | IF_ATTACH_NX_FLOWSWITCH) on iOS 18 bases. This
keeps the netif + flowswitch nexus (interface/host stack unaffected) but
leaves the FSW_TRANSPORT/IP netagents unset, so Network.framework uses the
BSD-socket path and mDNSResponder never creates the crashing channel. The
kernel boot-args come from the patched iBoot (kern.bootargs matches
IBootPatcher.bootArgs), so the arg is baked into the iBEC/LLB boot-args
patch, not the host NVRAM (which iBoot overrides).
- IBootPatcher gains `extraBootArgs`, inserted before the trailing %s in
the patched boot-args string (ibec/llb).
- FirmwarePipeline sets extraBootArgs="if_attach_nx=0x3" for iOS 18 bases
(iosBaseIs18), empty otherwise, on the iBEC and LLB factories.
Gated to iOS 18 bases: 26.x keeps the stock boot-args and is untouched.
Validated at runtime first (setting net.link.generic.system.enable_netagent
=0 makes DNS resolve reliably), then confirmed end-to-end on a fresh
17,3_18.6.2_22G100 jb restore: kern.bootargs shows if_attach_nx=0x3 and
DNS/networking works.
Documented in research/0_binary_patch_comparison.md (iBEC/LLB boot-args row).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <[email protected]>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01Q7gbWrtKLu8rFGmpXHmu9t
iOS 18.x userland on the 26.1 vphone600 kernel has no working touch: the
VZ USB touchscreen dext receives input reports (InputReportCount climbs)
but emits zero digitizer events on the 26.1 kernel, so backboardd's event
queue stays empty and the UI never sees touches. The identical device on
a 26.x base produces digitizer events normally, so it is a guest-side
dext<->kernel report->event ABI break, not a host or descriptor issue.
Fix: inject digitizer events guest-side via vphoned, bypassing the broken
dext -- the same IOHIDEventSystemClientDispatchEvent path vphoned already
uses for the Home key. vp_hid_touch() builds a Hand parent + digitizer
finger child event (display-integrated) and dispatches it.
- vphoned_hid.{h,m}: vp_hid_touch(phase,x,y) + digitizer dlsyms.
- vphoned.m: "touch" command; hello now reports the guest iOS version and
a "touch" capability.
- VPhoneControl: sendTouch(), guestIOSVersion, and useGuestTouchInjection
(connected && caps has "touch" && iOS major < 26).
- VPhoneVirtualMachineView.sendTouchEvent: routes to vphoned when
useGuestTouchInjection, else the native VZ USB multitouch path.
Gated to iOS 18 bases: 26.x guests report major >= 26, so the gate is
false and touch uses the unchanged native USB path (no regression). The
new vphoned code is compiled into all builds but stays inert on 26.x.
Ships via the existing vphoned hash-mismatch auto-update; no re-restore.
Verified on 17,3_18.6.2_22G100: socket tap -> correct digitizer event
(coordinates match), swipe unlocks to home, tap on the Settings icon
launches Settings.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <[email protected]>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01Q7gbWrtKLu8rFGmpXHmu9t
iOS 18.6.2 userland on the 26.1 vphone600 kernel crash-loops
runningboardd and SpringBoard, so the UI never takes over from the boot
logo. Crash reports show EXC_GUARD / GUARD_TYPE_MACH_PORT "flavor 10":
the 26.1 kernel fatally enforces a Mach port guard that iOS 18's older
userland trips (hardening the 18.x daemons predate).
The existing patchExcGuardBehavior() (kernel patch 27,
thread_guard_violation -> RET) fixes exactly this but was gated to the
dev variant only. Wire it to also apply on regular/jb/exp when the
iPhone base is iOS 18:
- FirmwarePipeline reads the base ProductVersion from
iPhone-BuildManifest.plist (fw_prepare preserves it; the live
BuildManifest reads the cloudOS 26.1 version, not the base) and sets
applyExcGuard for 18.* bases.
- KernelPatcher gains an applyExcGuard flag; patch 27 now runs when
isDev || applyExcGuard.
Scoped to iOS 18 bases only — 26.x bases boot without it, never set
applyExcGuard, and are unaffected. Validated on 17,3_18.6.2_22G100:
fw_patch_jb logs "iPhone base iOS: 18.6.2 (enabling ...)" and applies
thread_guard_violation -> RET at foff 0xB4FFCC. With this plus the
display SwapEnd fix, 18.6.2 boots to the Setup Assistant UI with
runningboardd and SpringBoard stable.
The keystore AppleSEPKeyStore sel-135 UnsupportedMode seen during
bring-up turned out to be non-fatal (tolerated by the CredentialManager)
and is not needed for boot, so no keystore patch is included.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <[email protected]>
iOS 18.6.2 userland on the 26.1 vphone600 kernel hits the same
IOMobileFramebuffer SwapEnd ABI mismatch as 26.0/26.0.1: userland sends
a smaller external-method-5 SwapEnd state than the 0x560 the userclient
expects, so SwapEnd returns kIOReturnBadArgument and the host VZ display
stays black (the guest still renders — the Apple logo is visible over
VNC, just not in the vphone-cli view). 18.6.2 sends 0x514 (26.0 sent
0x548).
cfw_patch_iomfb_swapend is already semantic + idempotent (it discovers
the source immediate and rewrites it to 0x560), so no patcher change is
needed — only the install-time gate. Extend the gate in cfw_install.sh
and cfw_install_dev.sh to fire when ProductVersion starts with 18. as
well as 26.0.
Scoped to those versions only: 26.1/26.3/26.4/26.5 match neither branch
of the gate and are unaffected. Document the widened scope in
research/0_binary_patch_comparison.md (patch row 9).
Part of ongoing iPhone17,3 18.6.2 + cloudOS 26.1 bring-up. Validated on
17,3_18.6.2_22G100: the Apple logo now renders in the vphone-cli view.
Full boot to the UI additionally needs two kernelcache fixes (keystore
sel-135 force-success and the mach-port EXC_GUARD disable) that are
validated at runtime but not yet folded into KernelPatcher — those will
be gated to iOS 18 bases so the working 26.x variants stay untouched.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <[email protected]>
Under `set -euo pipefail`, `diskutil apfs list | awk '...exit'` returns 141: awk exits on the first match and diskutil is killed by SIGPIPE while still writing its multi-container output (~21KB across 15 containers here). Scope the volume search to the image's own APFS container, derived from the attached base disk's s1 partition via APFSContainerReference, so the piped output is small enough that diskutil finishes before awk exits. This also stops the installer from selecting a System volume that belongs to an unrelated attached container.
Patch the 26.0/26.0.1 IOMobileFramebuffer SwapEnd payload size during CFW install and document the validated 26.0, 26.0.1, and 26.1 host-install matrix.
Fetch debs listed in debs.list into a cached debs/ dir (skipping already
-cached files, honoring manually-added ones), stage the whole cache into
the per-boot preboot dir alongside Sileo, and install on first boot.
- fetch_debs.sh: manifest fetch, atomic download, non-fatal on failure,
chowns cache back to invoking user under sudo
- cfw_install_jb.sh / cfw_install_exp.sh: fetch + stage into $BOOT_HASH/debs
- vphone_jb_setup.sh (5b): idempotent install — skip packages already at
>= the staged version, install the rest in one dpkg -i so inter-package
deps resolve in a single pass
- debs.list tracked manifest; debs/ cache gitignored
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <[email protected]>
The ramdisk-based install (build/send an SSH ramdisk, iproxy-forward, then
push CFW files over SSH and flip the boot snapshot with snaputil in-VM) has
been fully replaced by the host-mount path: cfw_install_host.sh mounts the
VM's Disk.img on the host, places every file locally, and flips the boot
snapshot offline via tools/apfs_snap_rename.py. This removes all remaining
ramdisk generation, delivery, and usage — no legacy fallback.
Deleted:
- scripts/ramdisk_build.py, scripts/ramdisk_send.sh
Renamed:
- scripts/cfw_host_mode.sh -> scripts/cfw_transport.sh (was a conditional
"host-mode override"; now the sole, unconditionally-sourced transport)
setup_machine.sh: drop the USE_RAMDISK_CFW=1 branch and every iproxy/ramdisk
helper (usbmux UDID resolution, port picking, start/stop iproxy, wait-for-
ramdisk-ssh), all RAMDISK_*/IPROXY_* vars, the cleanup() iproxy handling, and
the orphaned cfw_install_target var. Only the host-mount cfw_install_host call
remains.
cfw_install{,_dev,_jb,_exp}.sh: delete the SSH transport (SSH_* vars, SSH_OPTS,
sshpass prereq/_sshpass/_ssh_retry, ssh_cmd/scp_to/scp_from/remote_file_exists/
remote_mount, wait_for_device_ssh_ready) and the dead ramdisk-mechanism body
blocks (snaputil snapshot flip, dropbearkey host-key pre-generation, halt-over-
SSH, CFW_SKIP_HALT). The transport is now sourced unconditionally from
cfw_transport.sh. dropbear -R generates host keys at first boot; the offline
apfs_snap_rename.py does the boot-source flip. Dropped the vestigial
CFW_HOST_MODE gate.
Also: pymobiledevice3_bridge.py (ramdisk-send command already gone), Makefile
(ramdisk targets/help/IRECOVERY_ECID removed), README + ja/ko/zh (install flow
rewritten to host-mount), AGENTS.md/CLAUDE.md architecture tree, and stale
comments in vphone_jb_setup.sh, VPhoneCLI.swift, apfs_snap_rename.py,
cfw_patch_post_restore_dt.py.
Verified booting via make setup_machine.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <[email protected]>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01XZVS9oqVNmHJzpb8mFtKJx
Replace the "Ramdisk + CFW phase" (boot_dfu + ramdisk_build/send + iproxy
+ wait_ssh + cfw_install*) with cfw_install_host run after the restore
phase, while the VM is off. The legacy ramdisk path is kept behind
USE_RAMDISK_CFW=1.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <[email protected]>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01XZVS9oqVNmHJzpb8mFtKJx
Add a host-mount install path that replaces the DFU + ramdisk_send +
iproxy + SSH transport: mount the VM's Disk.img volumes on the host, place
every CFW file locally, then flip the boot snapshot offline
(tools/apfs_snap_rename.py). The resulting VM is identical to the
ramdisk-installed one, minus the round-trips.
- cfw_host_mode.sh: sourced by cfw_install*.sh when CFW_HOST_MODE=1;
overrides ssh_cmd/scp_to/scp_from/remote_mount/remote_file_exists to run
locally against volumes mounted at $CFW_HOST_MNT/mnt{1,3,5} (host / is
read-only, so device /mntN tokens are remapped), routes /usr/bin/tar to
gtar (bsdtar lacks the GNU flags), and skips snaputil/dropbearkey/halt.
- cfw_install{,_dev,_jb,_exp}.sh: source the shim after their helper defs
(host-mode is opt-in; the SSH path is unchanged). Also reword progress
messages that assumed the ramdisk/SSH flow ("~3 minutes" scp, "to
device", "Reboot the device") to read correctly in both modes.
- cfw_install_host.sh + `make cfw_install_host VARIANT=regular|dev|jb|exp`:
attach the image, run the chosen installer under CFW_HOST_MODE as root,
detach, and run the offline snapshot flip. Restores ownership of the
host-side artifacts it creates (vm/.vphoned.signed, .cfw_temp, ...) to
the invoking user afterward, so a later user-run `make boot` isn't
blocked by root-owned files.
Runs as root (owners-honored mounts / chown / cp) via a sudo re-exec. No
authenticated-root/ARV change needed; mount_apfs -o rw honors owners.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <[email protected]>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01XZVS9oqVNmHJzpb8mFtKJx
Renames the com.apple.os.update-<hash> system snapshot in place on a
powered-off Disk.img so the patched guest kernel boots the live volume
instead of the sealed snapshot -- same effect as in-VM snaputil, but done
offline on the host (no mount, no fs_snapshot syscall, no kernel/ARV gate,
no host security change).
The name lives in two b-tree records (snap_metadata value + snap_name
key), normally one leaf node; a same-length rename preserves name_len and
single-snapshot b-tree order, so only that block's APFS fletcher64
changes. Auto-detects the snapshot in valid b-tree blocks (ignores
identical strings baked into on-volume binaries); --dry-run, idempotent.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <[email protected]>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01XZVS9oqVNmHJzpb8mFtKJx
When SUDO_PASSWORD is supplied, setup_machine.sh exports SUDO_ASKPASS.
Previously hdiutil ran unprivileged first (cfw_install.sh, ramdisk_build.py)
or via plain interactive sudo (cfw_install_dev/exp.sh), both of which
triggered a password prompt.
Now, when SUDO_ASKPASS is present, hdiutil goes straight to `sudo -A` so it
never runs unprivileged first and never prompts. When it is absent, every
call site keeps its original behavior verbatim.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <[email protected]>
The 26.5 Shape B W^X matcher (mov #5 -> #7) mis-targets vm_map.c:6202
`prot &= ~VM_PROT_WRITE` -- the copy-on-write-preservation write-strip --
instead of the RWX/ALLEXEC gate at vm_map.c:5997. Widening it keeps write on
code-page protections, so a debugger's breakpoint write lands a writable PTE on
the code frame; SPTM rejects that (VIOLATION_ILLEGAL_MAP, page_fte->type=0xf),
killing any debugged process on 26.4+.
Isolation confirmed: with cs_bypass (patch_vm_fault_enter_prepare) left enabled
and Shape B disabled, the debugger works -- Shape B was the sole cause.
Retired on 26.5+ (not retargeted): on SPTM, code modification uses write-then-flip
via vm_protect(VM_PROT_COPY) -> XNU_USER_DEBUG. The debugger, MobileSubstrate
tweaks, and the JB's own plugins (vcc_patch_two_nops in libvcamcaptured.m) all use
this path; none need non-MAP_JIT RWX. Shape A (26.1-26.4, the real ALLEXEC gate)
is unaffected.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <[email protected]>
Inject launchdhook into pid 1 by default again for JB/EXP; set
DISABLE_LAUNCHD_HOOK=1 to skip. Also fixes a doubled-prefix typo in
cfw_install_exp.sh that made the previous env flag unreadable there.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <[email protected]>
The ramdisk-time host-key pre-seed added in c6ed3a1 invoked
/mnt1/iosbinpack64/usr/local/bin/dropbearkey, an iPhone-Distribution-signed
third-party binary. Inside the SSH ramdisk its cdhash is in no active trust
cache, so AMFI SIGKILLs it (exit 137), aborting cfw_install_jb/dev.
Use the ramdisk's own /usr/local/bin/dropbearkey (from ssh.tar.gz, re-signed
and trustcached at build time), which runs and writes fresh keys to the same
Data-volume target. The first-boot generator in vphone_jb_setup.sh is
unaffected — it runs in the JB'd kernel where the iosbinpack64 binary is valid.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <[email protected]>
setup_machine now runs non-interactive by default (auto-continue first-boot
stages + boot analysis). Pass INTERACTIVE=1 to restore the live prompts.
The old NON_INTERACTIVE external knob is dropped; it remains only as the
internal computed flag the first-boot prompts read.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <[email protected]>
test_jb_kernel_patches.sh only exercises the `kernel-jb` component, so it can't
see drift in the boot chain (iBSS/iBEC/LLB), the base KernelPatcher, TXM, or
DeviceTree — where real 26.x builds silently skipped sub-patches.
Add test_firmware_patches.sh (`make test_fw_patches`): runs the full
patch-firmware pipeline for the jb and exp variants over each locally-prepared
cloudOS firmware (assembled into a disposable VM dir; ipsws/ is never mutated)
and fails on any component that emits a `[-]` line. Because patchAll() only
throws on a zero-patch component, a partial skip never changes the exit code —
so the gate scans stdout for `[-]`.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <[email protected]>
The patch-16 entitlement-gate matcher keyed on source line IDs
(`mov w8, #0x332D / #0x333B`); on 26.4 both the value and the register drifted,
so it found nothing and silently skipped (worked on 26.1/26.3).
Re-anchor the deny blocks on their stable panic strings ("This operation needs
entitlement" and "lookup takes place out of a volume group, but the source
volume is in one"), scoped to the routine by also requiring the
`handle_get_dev_by_role` function-name string — this excludes the adjacent
`handle_volume_class_keybag_op`, which shares the entitlement message. Yields the
same 3 gates on 26.1/26.3 (parity) and now 3 on 26.4.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <[email protected]>
Two pre-existing iBoot patches silently skipped on some cloudOS versions
(verified by cross-version disassembly of the vresearch101 iBEC/LLB payloads):
- bootx precondition (iBEC): the `BL <bit-getter>; TBZ w0,#0 -> panic` construct
is a 26.4+ iBoot addition and is genuinely absent on 26.1/26.3 (which boot fine
without it). Treat "construct not present" as an informational skip, not a
failure; ambiguity (>1 gate) still hard-fails.
- LLB rootfs size gate: the bare `cmp x8, #0x400` is not unique — 26.4 LLB has
three (only one is the size gate, the other two are followed by `b.hi`). Anchor
on the `cmp x8,#0x400 ; b.hs` pair, unique on 26.1/26.3/26.4.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <[email protected]>
- hook_cred_label (sudo/setuid): resolve vfs_context_current generically; uthread offset drifted to 0x3F0
- proc_security_policy: anchor on PRIV_GLOBAL_PROC_INFO (0x3EA), not the drifted `cmp #0x21` switch literal
- proc_pidinfo: match the unique guard+EINVAL+flavor-switch shape (now inlined into proc_info_internal)
- task_conversion_eval: accept the kernel_task compare in either operand order
- io_secure_bsd_root: anchor on the kIOReturnNotPrivileged deny-CSEL; drop the moved [x19,#0x11A] context
- mac_mount: match the role-state ldrb + bit-6 test (Site 2 folded into one load on 26.5)
- spawn_validate_persona: anchor on the dual sibling [#8]/[#0xc] cbz reject
- vm_map_protect: handle both the 26.1/26.3 b.ne gate and the 26.5 W^X mask register (mov #5 -> #7)
- kcall10: locate the sysent table structurally; drop the brittle _nosys tiny-stub heuristic
- add tests/test_jb_kernel_patches.sh (make test_jb_patches[, QUICK=1]) over every supported cloudOS kernel
Fixes#342.
The 26.1-derived patchset silently skipped 9 hooks on 26.5 — the pipeline only
fails a component when it emits zero patches total, so a half-patched kernel
shipped as "success" and sudo broke with 'nosuid'.
Verified across 26.1/26.3/26.4/26.5
The 26.5 implementation embedded multiple build-specific values:
- a hardcoded byte offset 1056 to find `_sSourceList`
- a hardcoded stack-frame offset (#576) in the per-source filter scan
- hardcoded ivar offsets 0x08/0x18/0x10/0x18/0x48 on
BWFigCaptureDevice / BWFigCaptureStream
- hardcoded image VMAs 0x1ae6ff05c, 0x1ae2bd414, 0x1ae2c353c for
three error-suppression byte-patches
- two `#if 0` blocks pinning more 0x1ae* VMAs
Refactor every site to a runtime-resolved equivalent.
1. _sSourceList: structural ARM64 anchor chain rooted at the exported
FigCaptureSourceServerStart symbol — every link is a stable pattern
that survives DSC byte-offset shifts, stub-call layout changes, and
LC_SYMTAB local-symbol stripping:
FigCaptureSourceServerStart (exported, retained on every build)
walk for `cmn x?, #0x1 ; b.ne <wrapper>` (onceToken check)
wrapper (single-insn `bl <cold.1>` site)
cold.1 (static helper; 5-6 instructions)
`adrp x1, ... ; add x1, x1, #imm` (block-constant addr)
block constant (struct __Block_literal in __DATA_CONST)
+0x10 = invoke pointer (PAC-stripped) = dispatch_once body
init block-invoke
walk for `bl <X> ; adrp + str x0, [Xn, #imm]` pairs
(each "store fn result
into a static global")
pick the first slot whose stored value is a heap CFArray
(filters the lock-store
at #0 — that's a void*
mutex handle, not an
array)
LC_SYMTAB is still consulted first as a fast deterministic path for
builds that happen to retain `_sSourceList` as a regular nlist entry;
the structural chain is what actually fires on stock 26.1/26.3.1/26.5
DSCs (which strip static data symbols).
2. Per-source filter LDR x2 anchor: mask the imm12, accepting any
sp-relative 64-bit load into x2 regardless of the compiler-chosen
stack-frame slot.
3. BWFigCaptureDevice / BWFigCaptureStream ivar offsets: resolved at
synth-class init via class_getInstanceVariable + ivar_getOffset on
the parent class. Required ivars (deviceID, portType, uniqueID)
abort class registration on miss; the streaming BOOL is optional
(skip the YES poke instead of aborting). New vcc_resolve_ivar
helper walks a NULL-terminated candidate-name list to tolerate
underscore-prefix convention differences.
4. -[FigCaptureCameraSourcePipeline requiresMasterClock] prologue:
resolved via LC_SYMTAB by name (two underscore-prefix variants),
PAC-stripped, gated on a `pacibsp` insn1 sanity anchor before
rewriting to `mov w0, #0 ; ret`. The function isn't in the ObjC
method table on observed builds (so class_replaceMethod won't
intercept) — the byte-patch is the only working path.
5. _cs_addObjectToStreamsAttributes and -[BWFigVideoCaptureStream
initWithCaptureStream:…] -12783 bail sites: both prepare the
OSStatus via MOVN encodings (0x12863dd4 for w20, 0x12863dc8 for
w8). The new vcc_scan_and_patch helper finds every occurrence of
each encoding in __text and rewrites it to MOVZ #0. -12783 is a
capture-specific OSStatus and the daemon's only consumer in the
VM is the synth source, so over-application is benign.
Validator fixes (kept from the original 26.1/26.5 work):
- arm64e ISA class-pointer mask: 0x00007FFFFFFFFFF8 (44-bit class
field, bits 3-46) per libobjc's ISA_MASK. The previous mask
captured bit 47 (magic-signature region), so two pointers to the
same class produced different masked values when bit 47 differed.
- Pointer dereferences during slot validation gated by
`malloc_zone_from_ptr` so a stale/bogus heap pointer in a
candidate slot can't trap the daemon during init. (vm_read /
vm_read_overwrite were considered but cameracaptured's sandbox
returns KERN_DENIED on intra-task vm_read on iOS 26.x.)
Helpers in scripts/vcamcaptured/libvcamcaptured.m:
vcc_safe_read_ptr pointer-read wrapper
vcc_slot_value_is_cfarray malloc_zone + ISA-class check
vcc_collect_call_then_store_globals walk a function body for
"BL <X>; adrp + str x0,
[Xn, #imm]" pairs
vcc_resolve_ivar class_getInstanceVariable
wrapper with candidate-name list
vcc_scan_and_patch __text scan + per-occurrence
vcc_patch_word wrapper
VCC_ISA_CLASS_MASK arm64e 44-bit class-pointer mask
The two dead `#if 0` byte-patch blocks (referencing 0x1ae2b5284 and
0x1ae2b4c90, with the captureSession_buildGraphWithConfiguration
thumbnail / preview-sink bail-bypass commentary) are removed along
with their explanatory comments. scripts/cfw_install_exp.sh's
comment that mistakenly described a non-existent "Patch #6" inside
_captureSourceServer_handleCopySourcesMessage is rewritten to
describe the actual DSC patches (NU short-circuit + AVF authorization,
both already version-agnostic via `ipsw dyld symaddr`).
Validated end-to-end on:
iOS 26.1 build 23B85
iOS 26.3.1
iOS 26.5 build 23F77
All three return the same `vphone:vcam:0` synthetic camera as the
default video device and deliver real JPEG frames through the modern
AVCapturePhoto delegate path in continuitycaptured / Camera.app.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <[email protected]>
Replace the two giant hardcoded selectors (the 27-arg AVCapturePhoto
init and the 32-arg +resolvedSettingsWithUniqueID:… factory) with a
prefix-lookup + label-driven NSInvocation builder. This survives
Apple adding or removing args between iOS releases without code
changes: the discovered selector decides arg count and order, the
resolver block fills the args we care about by label
("timestamp", "photoSurface", "uniqueID", "photoDimensions", etc.),
and unknown labels get nil/zero from the runtime type encoding.
cfx_find_selector_by_prefix(cls, prefix, classMethod)
Walks class_copyMethodList on cls (or its metaclass for class
methods), returns the matching selector with the most colons.
Highest-arg-count match wins so a future Apple revision that
adds a new arg in the middle is still found.
cfx_normalize_first_label(NSString *)
Strips "initWith" / "resolvedSettingsWith" and lowercases the
first char of the remainder so the leading component matches
the same label convention as the rest of the selector.
cfx_invoke_with_labeled_args(target, selector, resolver)
Builds the NSInvocation, iterates selector components, calls
the resolver block once per arg with (label, typeEnc, outBuf).
Block writes the value via the appropriate cast (CMTime,
IOSurfaceRef, __unsafe_unretained id, NSInteger, etc.) or
leaves outBuf zeroed.
Builders refactored:
- cfx_build_resolved_settings now fills only uniqueID +
photoDimensions + previewDimensions; everything else stays
zero/nil (Apple's impl tolerates that on builds where the
factory itself works at all).
- cfx_build_avcapturephoto_with_request fills timestamp,
photoSurface, photoSurfaceSize, processedFileType, metadata,
captureRequest, sequenceCount, photoCount, sourceDeviceType.
Every other surface/dictionary arg defaults to nil.
End state: net +169/-96 lines, zero hardcoded full selectors,
photo synthesis remains functionally identical on 26.5 and is
prepared for arg-list drift on future iOS revisions.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <[email protected]>
Universal injection mechanism: any process where AVFoundation is
loaded (Camera.app, continuitycaptured, third-party apps, system
daemons — anything dyld pulls AVF into) automatically gets libcamfix
via TweakLoader. No per-bundle plist filter, no allowlist entries.
scripts/tweakloader/TweakLoader.m
New Filter.Frameworks key. A tweak's plist may list framework
names; TweakLoader matches the path containing
"/<name>.framework/". Already-loaded frameworks trigger an immediate
dlopen; not-yet-loaded frameworks register a
_dyld_register_func_for_add_image callback that fires when the
named framework appears.
Two-tier engagement:
- Framework-filtered tweaks scan + schedule in EVERY process,
self-limiting at runtime. Cost in non-AVF processes is one
dir scan + a few plist parses + one callback registration.
- Non-framework tweaks (Bundles/Executables or no filter) keep
the existing .app/+kVPhoneAllowedDaemonPaths gate so we don't
drop arbitrary tweaks into launch-critical daemons.
CRITICAL safety: dyld invokes add-image callbacks SYNCHRONOUSLY
inside its loader lock. dlopen from within that callback recurses
and can deadlock or crash early daemons. The actual dlopen is
handed off to a background queue (dispatch_async) so it runs after
dyld is idle.
Defensive: each per-tweak block is @try/@catch wrapped so a
malformed plist or Foundation quirk in an early-boot daemon can't
crash the process and trigger a launchd respawn loop.
scripts/camfix/libcamfix.m
Constructor no longer eagerly installs hooks. Instead registers a
_dyld_register_func_for_add_image callback and installs hooks the
first time AVFCapture's mach header is observed (idempotent via
dispatch_once). Whether libcamfix loads before or after AVFCapture,
hooks land exactly once.
cfx_capturePhoto_hook now drives the MODERN
-[<AVCapturePhotoCaptureDelegate> captureOutput:
didFinishProcessingPhoto:error:] path in addition to the deprecated
CMSampleBuffer one. The synthesized AVCapturePhoto uses nil
captureRequest (there's no CAMCaptureEngine outside Camera.app —
msgSend to nil during init returns 0 safely). Photos tagged with
associated JPEG/CGImage so fileDataRepresentation /
CGImageRepresentation return our bytes regardless of which delegate
protocol the client implements.
scripts/camfix/libcamfix.plist
Filter.Frameworks = ["AVFoundation"]. Replaces the previous
Bundles=["com.apple.camera"] filter.
scripts/cfw_install_exp.sh
build_libcamfix install_name reverted to /var/jb/Library/
MobileSubstrate/DynamicLibraries/libcamfix.dylib (TweakLoader
location). [JB-4.2] deploys dylib + plist together.
Verified on fresh `make setup_machine` install of 26.5:
- 373+ distinct AVF-using processes auto-load libcamfix at boot,
including watchdogd / amfid / backboardd / SpringBoard /
cameracaptured / continuitycaptured.
- Camera.app: preview live, photos save, shutter works past
many consecutive captures.
- continuitycaptured: a vanilla AVCapturePhotoCaptureDelegate
using the documented capturePhotoWithSettings:delegate: API gets
a real 1280x720 JFIF JPEG via the modern delegate path.
- Full reboot cycle stable.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <[email protected]>
libcamfix.dylib is loaded into Camera.app (com.apple.camera) by
TweakLoader (the .app/-rule covers Camera.app automatically; the plist
filters to Bundles=[com.apple.camera]). It bridges the vphone shm
frames from libvcamcaptured into Camera.app's normal photo + preview
pipeline so the user can take real photos via the standard shutter.
Hooks (only fire for connections backed by AVCaptureDevice uid
"vphone:vcam:0"):
- _setActiveFormat: substitute device.formats.firstObject when
the session-preset->format lookup hands us a
nil format (would otherwise throw at launch).
- capturePhoto deliver a CMSampleBuffer (built from shm) via
the deprecated didFinishProcessingPhotoSample
delegate path — kept for test harnesses that
use the documented AVCapturePhotoOutput API.
- beginMomentCapture / commitMomentCaptureToPhotoWithUniqueID:
Camera.app's actual shutter path. Skip orig
(would throw), stash the delegate at begin,
drive a synthesized AVCapturePhoto at commit.
- cancelMomentCaptureWithUniqueID: no-op (orig would throw).
- AVCaptureSession _setRunning: / _setInterrupted: setters swallowed
for vcam-bound sessions, and isRunning /
isInterrupted getters force YES / NO so
Camera.app's "preview live" poll keeps the
viewfinder visible past ~4-5 s.
- AVCaptureVideoPreviewLayer: scan UIApplication.windows at 1 Hz
for layers bound to a vcam session and pump
CGImage frames into layer.contents at 30 Hz.
- AVCapturePhoto fileDataRepresentation / CGImageRepresentation:
when the photo we synthesized is the receiver,
return the JPEG / CGImage we built from shm
instead of asking the (non-existent) photo
surface to encode itself.
- CAMStillImageCaptureRequest: dynamically add three stubs
(resolvedSettings, unresolvedSettings,
lensStabilizationSupported) so AVCapturePhoto's
private 27-arg init does not throw on the
CAM-internal request we pass in.
Synthesized AVCapturePhoto construction:
- extract the real CAMStillImageCaptureRequest for the current uid
from CAMCaptureEngine._resultsQueueRegisteredStillImageRequests
(Camera.app's pending-photo dict),
- hand-build a minimal AVCaptureResolvedPhotoSettings via
class_createInstance + ivar writes for uniqueID + dimensions +
empty NSArray ivars (CFRetained so the dealloc chain stays valid),
- feed both into AVCapturePhoto's documented 27-arg
initWithTimestamp:photoSurface:... via NSInvocation,
- tag the photo with the JPEG bytes via objc_setAssociatedObject
so the fileDataRepresentation hook returns them.
Full AVF + CAM internal delegate sequence fired at commit time:
willBeginCaptureBeforeResolvingSettingsForUniqueID,
willBeginCaptureForResolvedSettings, willCapturePhotoForResolvedSettings,
didCapturePhotoForResolvedSettings, didFinishProcessingPhoto:error:,
didFinishCaptureForResolvedSettings:error:,
_didFinishStillImageCaptureForUniqueID:error:, and crucially
captureOutput:readyForResponsiveRequestAfterResolvedSettings:.
Without that last "responsive ready" signal AVF's 2-deep pipeline
never frees its slots and Camera.app's shutter stops accepting
input after the 2nd capture.
Install wiring in scripts/cfw_install_exp.sh:
- build_libcamfix() — clang -arch arm64e -fobjc-arc -Os, frameworks
AVFoundation / CoreImage / CoreMedia / CoreVideo / Foundation /
ImageIO / IOSurface / MobileCoreServices / Photos / QuartzCore /
UIKit, ldid-signed.
- [JB-4.2] scp the dylib + plist into procursus/Library/MobileSubstrate/
DynamicLibraries (same location as libvcamcaptured) and chmod /
chown so TweakLoader picks them up on next boot.
End state: Camera.app on EXP shows live preview from the host-supplied
vcam frames, the shutter takes real photos that get saved into Photos
via Camera.app's own pipeline (no PHPhotoLibrary back-channel), and
the shutter button keeps working across many consecutive captures.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <[email protected]>
libvcamcaptured.dylib is loaded into /usr/libexec/cameracaptured via
TweakLoader and registers a synthetic FigCaptureSource backed by the
vphone shm region. From AVF's point of view there is now a normal
"vphone:vcam:0" camera device that streams BGRA frames at the
session's requested width/height.
scripts/vcamcaptured/ .gitignore (drop built .dylib),
Makefile, libvcamcaptured.m,
libvcamcaptured.plist (filter:
Executables=["cameracaptured"]).
scripts/tweakloader/TweakLoader.m add /usr/libexec/cameracaptured
to kVPhoneAllowedDaemonPaths so
TweakLoader engages in a daemon
(not just .app/) processes.
scripts/cfw_install_exp.sh build_libvcamcaptured() helper
(clang + CoreMedia/CoreVideo/
Foundation, ldid-signed) and
new [JB-4.1] section that
scp's the dylib + plist into
procursus/Library/MobileSubstrate/
DynamicLibraries.
Pairs with the host vphone-cli camera server + vphoned vcam vsock
listener already in this branch.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <[email protected]>
Guest-side counterpart to VPhoneCameraServer. vphoned runs inside
the VM and now hosts an extra vsock listener on port 1338 that
receives BGRA frames from the host and writes them into a memory-
mapped shm region at
/var/jb/var/mobile/Library/vphone-vcam-frame.shm with a packed
header (seq monotonic, width/height, bytes_per_row, pixel_format,
timestamp_ns, frame_index, pixels_length).
vphoned_vcam.h packed shm header layout + filename const.
vphoned_vcam.m VPVcamServer: accept loop, header parse,
seq-bump write, file-based debug log for
first-boot post-mortem.
vphoned.m Boot the vcam server alongside the existing
port-1337 control daemon.
Pairs with the host VPhoneCameraServer (1338 client) and the guest
libvcamcaptured (shm reader) added in the following commits.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <[email protected]>
Mac-side feeder for the virtual camera. The host generates frames
(test pattern or video file) and pushes BGRA buffers over vsock to
the guest daemon vphoned, which mirrors them into the shm region
that the in-VM libvcamcaptured + libcamfix consume.
VPhoneCameraServer @MainActor vsock client to vphoned port
1338. Reconnects on transport failure
so the host can survive guest reboots.
VPhoneFrameProducer Test-pattern (hue-rolling gradient) and
VideoFile producers; emit BGRA at the
session's requested width/height/fps.
VPhoneMenuCamera Camera menu: pick source, start/stop
the feeder, show stream status.
VPhoneMenuController/Connect/AppDelegate
Wire the menu into the existing menu
bar and start the server alongside the
other vsock services at VM boot.
End state: with a vphoned listener on the guest side, host-generated
BGRA frames appear in the shm region the camera daemon reads from.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 <[email protected]>
