- README.md rewritten around the vphone-cli binary (no make): tested-env
matrix, two-path SIP/AMFI setup, firmware variants, commands, short flags,
and a Python-runtime section covering the auto-provisioned venv / portability
- docs/README_{ko,ja,zh}.md regenerated as full translations mirroring it
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <[email protected]>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01Y4VDqWf5pVakcFLqB23CKe
- scripts/build.sh builds+signs the binary, bundles a self-contained .app
(mirrors scripts/patchers/resources/tools/vphoned + requirements.txt into
Contents/Resources) and re-signs; the signed guest daemon stages under
.build (not the repo root)
- CryptexFilesystemPatcher resolves assets via VPhoneResources instead of
CWD-relative paths
- Makefile space-safety; .gitignore updates
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <[email protected]>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01Y4VDqWf5pVakcFLqB23CKe
Full command surface so create → patch → restore → install → boot → manage all
run through vphone-cli, no make required:
- vm list/info/new/config/rename/delete/clone/export/import, launch/stop
(--kernel-debug-port forwarded to the boot binary)
- native end-to-end `vm create` (VPhoneCreateOrchestrator)
- fw prepare/patch, restore + cfw install
- `setup` to provision the Python env up front (also automatic on first use)
- interactive VM selection when a name is omitted, short option aliases, and
-v/-vv/-vvv verbosity
Wire the subcommands in main.swift/VPhoneCLI.swift; adjust VPhoneControl/
VPhoneError/VPhoneVirtualMachine for the config-driven boot path.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <[email protected]>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01Y4VDqWf5pVakcFLqB23CKe
The library the consolidated CLI is built on:
- bundle/library model (VPhoneBundle, VPhoneLibrary, VPhoneVirtualMachineManifest),
bundle ops + reporting, restore helpers (VPhoneRestoreOps)
- host process primitives: VPhoneProcessRunner, VPhoneManagedProcess (spawn +
stdout pattern-match + SIGKILL-escalating terminate), VPhoneLaunchLayout,
VPhoneBootPatterns
- VPhoneResources: bundled-.app vs dev asset resolution, and Python resolution
that provisions a per-user venv (~/.vphone/venv) on demand so the app is
portable — never depends on the repo's .venv
- VPhoneVerbosity (quiet/info/debug/trace) and VPhoneVMPicker
Manifest moves out of the executable target into VPhoneCore. Full unit-test
suite under tests/VPhoneCoreTests.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <[email protected]>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01Y4VDqWf5pVakcFLqB23CKe
* fix AVPBooter DGST patch: restrict search to movz/movk instructions
The DGST constant search matched any instruction string containing
"0x4447", including branch targets like `bl #0x4447c`. On macOS 27
beta 3+ firmware, such a branch appeared before the real DGST movk,
causing a false match and subsequent "x0 setter not found" failure.
Restrict the search to movz/movk/mov mnemonics only, which are the
actual constant-loading instructions.
Fixes#373
* fix iBSS JB nonce patch: use tolerance-based ADRP+ADD search
findRefsToOffset required exact match between ADRP+ADD computed address
and the "boot-nonce" string file offset. On macOS 27 beta 3 firmware,
code references a structure header 2 bytes before the string, causing
the exact match to fail.
Add findRefsNear() which allows up to 16 bytes of negative delta,
matching references to the containing structure rather than the string
itself. This makes the patch resilient to minor layout changes across
firmware versions.
On 26.x bases the EXC_GUARD (Mach port guard) disable patch is not required
to boot, so it is no longer applied unconditionally on regular/jb/exp.
Production apps shipping crash-reporting/RASP SDKs (Bugly, Crashlytics,
KSCrash) call task_swap_exception_ports(), which the research kernel enforces
as a fatal GUARD_TYPE_MACH_PORT violation on launch; a --force-exc-guard flag
(FORCE_EXC_GUARD=1 in the Makefile) re-enables the patch for those cases.
iOS 18 bases and the dev variant keep the patch always-on, since both need it
to boot. The documented violation is corrected from SET_EXCEPTION_BEHAVIOR to
KOBJECT_REPLY_PORT_SEMANTICS, matching the actual reproduction crash logs.
Also add /vm-*/ to .gitignore for multi-VM directories.
Co-authored-by: Paulo Sarrin <[email protected]>
Co-authored-by: zqxwce <[email protected]>
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <[email protected]>
patch-dsc-maxslide self-gates to a no-op when the shared cache fits the
vphone600 26.x kernel's 6 GiB region, which 26.x/18.x bases always do, so
it only fires on 27. Add a --force flag that bypasses the fits-check and
zeroes maxSlide unconditionally (still idempotent), and a
FORCE_DSC_MAXSLIDE=1 env opt-in in cfw_install.sh that runs it on non-27
bases. Default off; 27 behavior unchanged.
Also fix the installer env-threading in cfw_install_host.sh: a
${VAR:+NAME=val} word produced by expansion is not parsed as a shell
assignment (zsh runs it as a command), so route the assignments through
env. This makes FORCE_DSC_MAXSLIDE reach the installer and repairs the
same latent bug for SPOOF_BUILD.
Verified on a 26.4 JB VM: FORCE_DSC_MAXSLIDE=1 yields on-disk maxSlide=0
and a live shared-cache slide of 0x0 (dyld maps the cache at its
preferred base 0x180000000 in rpcserver_ios), versus the nonzero slide a
stock 26.4 boot picks.
Docs + research/0_binary_patch_comparison.md updated (README and the ja/ko/zh
translations).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <[email protected]>
The JB blanket-neuters Sandbox mpo_vnode_check_open (ops[267] -> allow) so
processes can read /var/jb. FileProvider's fpfs parent-walk relies on the stock
check's EACCES at the domain-container boundary as its terminus; with it
neutered the walk climbs unbounded and ResolverService balloons (~12 GB) ->
vm-compressor-space-shortage jetsam -> backboardd killed -> respring
(27b4/24A5390f).
Keep the global bypass, enforce the real check for the FileProvider daemons
only. On iOS 27, ops[267] is left un-neutered (removed from the JB-09 blanket
list) and retargeted to a code-cave trampoline: inline current_proc
(tpidr_el1 -> uthread+0x3F0 -> proc+0x18), read p_comm (+0x56C), and for
ResolverService/fileproviderd branch to the real vnode_check_open, else return
allow. Register-only, no frame/call. Gated to a 27.x base via applyIOS27; other
bases keep the blanket neuter.
Verified: cave disasm + branch targets correct (final b -> real
vnode_check_open); 26.5 kernelcache byte-identical pre-vs-post (ops[267] stays
neutered there). Documented as JB-29 in research/0_binary_patch_comparison.md.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <[email protected]>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01YNySXhjsxhFG9yZMBHJUqY
iOS 27 XPC servers pin a Lightweight Code Requirement on their listener
(xpc_connection_set_peer_lightweight_code_requirement / the Swift
XPCPeerRequirement.hasEntitlement wrapper). Creating one self-checks via
libxpc _xpc_token_satisfies_lwcr, whose matcher returns a "matched" bool
plus a match_result.error_code and then hard-asserts they agree
(matched == (error_code == AICMR_MATCH), where AICMR_MATCH == 0) via
_os_crash_msg -> brk #1.
Under our JB code-signing environment the matcher writes error_code =
MATCH(0) but returns a failure status, producing the forbidden
(matched=0, error_code=0) pair, so libxpc aborts. Every daemon that pins
an entitlement peer-requirement at startup crash-loops continuously from
boot: intelligencetasksd, searchpartyd, transparencyd, bluetoothd, ...
Fix (cfw_patch_xpc_lwcr.py, 27.*-gated in cfw_install.sh, self-gating on
the symbol): derive "matched" from error_code and drop the abort. The
three instructions "cset w8,ne; eor w8,w0,w8; tbz w8,#0,<abort>" become
"cset w0,eq; nop; nop". The function then returns (error_code == 0),
reproducing stock behavior when the two agree and resolving the
contradiction toward "satisfied" when error_code says MATCH; genuine
allow/deny (error_code != 0) is unchanged. Symbol resolved from the DSC
.symbols table, site located by control-flow shape (Capstone),
replacements from Keystone, modified 16 KiB page re-attested
(cfw_dsc_codesign; CDHash change accepted by the JB AMFI cdhash-trust
patch).
Validated on 17,3_27.0_24A5390f + cloudOS 26.4 (JB, host-mount deploy):
the four crash-loopers disappear from the crash census after boot;
launchd (which links libxpc) boots clean past first unlock.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <[email protected]>
iOS 27's Campo (wallpaper renderer) runs under the temporary-sandbox profile
(its own com.apple.private.sandbox.profile:embedded + no-container). On the 26.4
vphone600 kernel that builtin profile predates 27 and denies the backboard/
frontboard launch mach-services, so BKSDisplayServicesStart and then
+[BKSHIDEventDeliveryManager sharedInstance] fail their mach-lookups, log
"backboardd isn't running -- or we couldn't talk to it", and brk ~34ms after
launch -> continuous crash-loop, no wallpaper. JB-02d's container-upcall
force-success stops the exec-time autobox kill but does not grant these services.
Grant them through Campo's own com.apple.security.exception.mach-lookup.global-name
array (the sanctioned escape hatch, honored by temporary-sandbox -- Campo already
ships ~20 such exceptions; these launch services just aren't among them because
27's profile allows them directly). Applied at host-mount build time as step
JB-3b in cfw_install_jb.sh / cfw_install_exp.sh, re-signed with signcert.p12 via
ldid_sign_ent. The service list is merged by the external helper
scripts/patchers/campo_mach_lookup_exceptions.py (plistlib, not plutil -- the
entitlement key's dots would break plutil keypaths).
Hard-gated to 27.* on the mounted rootfs SystemVersion.plist (same gate as the
vpregister/DSC patches): skipped on 26.x/18.x, which don't need it and where
Campo.app also exists.
Verified on-device (17,3_27.0_24A5390f + cloudOS 26.4, JB): Campo launches and
stays up, no BKSDisplayServicesStart/BKSHIDEventDeliveryManager trap. Documented
as entry #14 in research/0_binary_patch_comparison.md.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <[email protected]>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_014McnrLRb5cZsTrpcBkvkj3
Add the 27.0 / `17,3_27.0_24A5380h` / `26.4-23E5207q` row to the
tested-environments table across README.md and the ja/ko/zh translations,
and update docs/demo.jpeg.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <[email protected]>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_013pk5tsoBeuu3jhkmnRFtic
Productionize the 3-part fix that makes `pymobiledevice3 mounter auto-mount`
land the personalized DDI at /System/Developer on the iOS-27-userland /
26.4-vphone600-kernel (c0ecdb4b) JB hybrid.
- KernelJBPatchDiskImages2.swift (new; wired into KernelJBPatcher.findAll):
DiskImages2 ABI acceptance. GATE1/GATE2b NOP the CreateDevice/Connect
cmp#9/b.ne ABI-version rejects (kernel driver v9 vs iOS-27 controller/daemon
v11). GATE2 widens the RegisterNotificationPort backing array + both
bound-check field loads (all-or-nothing) to clear the `type < getMaxPorts`
off-by-one that otherwise fails the attach ("Can't register notification
port").
- KernelJBPatchSandboxExtended: retarget mac_policy_ops[124]
(mpo_proc_check_syscall_unix) to the allow stub so MobileStorageMounter's
mount_apfs can make the mount(2) syscall (unix 167) — else the kernel
Sandbox denies it ("Protobox: mount_apfs deny(1) syscall-unix 167").
- cfw_patch_diskimagesiod.py + cfw.py + cfw_install.sh (gated to 27.*):
force -[DIDiskArb isMountCompleteWithExpectedCount:diskTracker:] -> YES so
MobileStorageMounter's waitForDAMount returns and it performs the real
nobrowse mount.
GATE2a anchor fix (the critical one): Capstone on this toolchain decodes the
AllocPortsArray size-shift lsl-immediate (a UBFM alias) as 2 operands, not the
xd,xn,#imm 3-operand shape. The original 3-operand + imm==3 match found 0, so
the all-or-nothing silently skipped GATE2 on every build (only manual dd pokes
ever worked). Now matched on mnemonic + destination x1 — the unique
size-writing lsl in AllocPortsArray; the replacement is a fixed mov x1,#0x4000
so the shift amount is irrelevant. Verified from a clean build on c0ecdb4b via
`patch-component --component kernel-jb --records-out`: all five di2 records
emit (createdevice, connect, allocports_size, notif_boundcheck_d8/e8), and
`pmd3 mounter auto-mount` -> rc=0 with the DDI mounted, no poke.
Documented in research/0_binary_patch_comparison.md (JB-09, JB-28, CFW
binary-patch #13).
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <[email protected]>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_013pk5tsoBeuu3jhkmnRFtic
On iOS 27, -[LSApplicationWorkspace registerApplicationDictionary:] (what the
first-boot `uicache -a` uses) is a deprecated no-op stub — lsd logs "You cannot
use -[LSApplicationWorkspace registerApplicationDictionary:] to register
applications anymore. These interfaces have been deprecated for years." and it
returns NO. So vphone_jb_setup.sh installs Sileo's .deb but never registers it:
the files land in /var/jb/Applications but Sileo never appears on the home
screen. There is no gate to patch here — Apple removed the implementation.
Fix: register JB apps via the modern containerized API instead.
- scripts/vpregister/vpregister.m: standalone helper that registers
/var/jb/Applications/*.app (or given paths) via
registerContainerizedApplicationWithInfoDictionaries:...:registrationError:,
treating a nil error as success (it returns NO even when it registers). Works
once lsd's embedded-reg gate is patched (cfw_patch_lsd_embedded_reg, applied
by cfw_install.sh, which cfw_install_jb.sh and cfw_install_exp.sh both chain).
It lives in its OWN dir (scripts/vpregister/), NOT scripts/vphoned/, so it is
not swept up by the `scripts/vphoned/*.m` globs that build vphoned
(cfw_install.sh, cfw_install_dev.sh, and the vphoned Makefile all glob that
dir) — otherwise its main() collides with vphoned's ("duplicate symbol
'_main'"). Built separately by the JB/EXP installers.
- cfw_install_jb.sh / cfw_install_exp.sh: build + sign (vphoned entitlements +
CFW signcert) + deploy vpregister to /cores.
- vphone_jb_setup.sh: after dpkg + uicache -a, invoke /cores/vpregister to
register JB apps via the containerized path. Guarded by [ -x ].
vpregister verified on 17,3_27.0_24A5380h + cloudOS 26.4 (JB): registers Sileo
via the containerized API (uicache -l 0->1) on the gate-patched VM. The exact
cfw_install.sh vphoned build (VPHONED_SRCS glob + clang) now links cleanly with
vpregister.m relocated. Doc: item 12 in research/0_binary_patch_comparison.md.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <[email protected]>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_013pk5tsoBeuu3jhkmnRFtic
iOS 27 lsd gates app (re)registration behind
-[_LSDModifyClient clientIsEntitledForEmbeddedRegistrationOperations], an
XPC-peer entitlement check for one of three privileged entitlements
(coreservices.lsaw / installcoordinationd.daemon /
coreservices.can-register-install-results). Missing -> NSOSStatusErrorDomain
-54 (permErr, LSDModifyService.mm:1639), so registerApplicationDictionary: and
registerContainerizedApplicationWithInfoDictionaries: fail and no app can
register — blocking vphoned's installer, TrollStore, and uicache/Sileo. The
entitlement route is unsatisfiable: LS registration is proxied, so the peer lsd
inspects is not the caller (even vphoned with all three in its validated csblob
is rejected).
Fix (two parts):
- cfw_patch_lsd_embedded_reg.py: NOP the gate's final cbz so the check always
returns YES + re-attest the 16 KiB page (TXM per-page). Wired into cfw.py
(patch-lsd-embedded-reg) and cfw_install.sh (after patch-dsc-maxslide);
self-gates on pre-27 userlands (method absent). Method resolved via the DSC's
own .symbols in-image table (ipsw symaddr/a2s time out on this cache), gate
located by control-flow shape (cbz/cbnz w0 whose fall-through sets the
mov w<reg>,#1 result), NOP bytes from Keystone. New CDHash accepted by the JB
always-true AMFI cdhash-trust patch.
- vphoned vp_register_path: fall back from the (still-gated) plain
registerApplicationDictionary: to the containerized registration API, which
works once the gate is patched (treat a nil registrationError as success
since it returns NO even when it registers).
Verified on 17,3_27.0_24A5380h + cloudOS 26.4 (JB): -54 gone, Sileo registers
(uicache -l 0->1), vphoned installs+registers a test IPA (com.vphone.vptest) to
/var/containers/Bundle/Application end-to-end; clean boot (re-attest correct).
Documented as item 12 in research/0_binary_patch_comparison.md.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <[email protected]>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_013pk5tsoBeuu3jhkmnRFtic
Recognize entrypoints already rewritten to `b _kern_Swap*` by a prior run (first
insn is `b` targeting the kern address) and count them as `already` covered
instead of aborting. Previously a reinstall / re-patch of an already-forced DSC
raised "did not retarget required entrypoints" because the trampoline shape was
gone. Now: covered = forced | already; require the REQUIRED set to be a subset
of covered; re-attest only when something was newly written (skip cleanly when
all entrypoints are already forced). Enables the host-mount reinstall loop on an
already-patched VM. No behaviour change on a fresh DSC.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <[email protected]>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_013pk5tsoBeuu3jhkmnRFtic
The 26.4 vphone600 kernel resolves each process's containers at exec via a
synchronous MIG upcall to containermanagerd over the container-manager host
special port (HOST_CONTAINERD_PORT). iOS 27 DELETED this kernel-side upcall (the
stock 27 kernel has no HOST_CONTAINERD_PORT / CM_KERN_* protocol — container
resolution moved out of the kernel), so 27's containermanagerd no longer
implements the reply server. On the 26.4 kernel running a 27.0 userland the
upcall therefore fails (MACH_SEND_INVALID_DEST) for every platform app -> they
are autoboxed into the restrictive `temporary-sandbox` profile, which denies
mach-lookup com.apple.backboard.display.services -> Campo (the wallpaper
renderer) crash-loops (no wallpaper), plus intelligencetasksd / feedbackd.
Re-registering the host special port is a confirmed dead end: the 26.4 kernel
then SENDS the MIG request and BLOCKS for a reply 27 cannot produce -> early-boot
deadlock (SpringBoard never comes up).
Fix (patchContainerManagerUpcall): flip the `cbz w0,<success>` guard in
_hook_cred_label_update_execve (taken when the upcall returns 0) to an
unconditional `b <success>`, so a failed upcall takes the success path instead
of autobox/kill. Anchored structurally on the "failed to upcall to
containermanagerd" string xref (-> the cbz immediately before the string-load
adrp, preceded by the upcall bl, unique backward branch); replacement b from the
Keystone-backed ARM64Encoder. No-op-in-effect for version-matched userlands
(there the upcall succeeds, so the original cbz already branches to <success>).
- new: sources/FirmwarePatcher/Kernel/JBPatches/KernelJBPatchContainerUpcall.swift
- KernelJBPatcher.findAll: call patchContainerManagerUpcall after
patchExecSecurityPolicyKill
- cfw_install.sh: document the port-25 launchd-cache approach as a dead end
(no active code)
- research/0_binary_patch_comparison.md: add row JB-02d
Validated on-device (iPhone17,3 27.0 24A5380h + cloudOS 26.4 c0ecdb4b, JB):
iOS 27 wallpaper renders, Campo/SpringBoard/backboardd stable, clean boot (no
freeze, no panic). Patcher-level (patch-component --component kernel-jb on the
pristine 26.4 kernelcache): finds 0x1AB0654 cbz w0 -> b 0x1ab0564, emits record
container_manager_upcall_force_success, byte-identical to the on-device-validated
host-poke.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <[email protected]>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_013pk5tsoBeuu3jhkmnRFtic
iOS 27 userland on the 26.4 vphone600 kernel booted with a working GUI over the
in-guest TrollVNC capturer, but the normal vphone-cli window (the host VZ view)
stayed black. Root cause, proven at the instruction level in the 27.0 DSC
IOMobileFramebuffer: the host VZVirtualMachineView is fed by the guest
AppleParavirtGPU scanout, which the 26.4 kernel drives ONLY from the IOMFB
userclient SwapEnd (external method 5) -- the `_kern_Swap*` path that 26.x used
(and that the SwapEnd size patch fixed on 26.0/18.x). iOS 27 defaults the
paravirt display's present to IOMFB's parallel `_virt_Swap*` path: `_virt_SwapEnd`
performs no userclient call -- it invokes an in-process callback and hands the
composited IOSurface to a virtual-display consumer -- so frames never enter the
kernel userclient and the paravirt GPU never scans out (live AppleParavirtGPU
scheduler sat idle). TrollVNC still saw frames because it captures the composited
surface in-guest, independent of the paravirt scanout.
Fix = force the display's present back onto the kern/method-5 path, in two halves:
Userland (DSC), new patcher cfw_patch_iomfb_force_kern.py (cfw.py +
cfw_install.sh, 27-gated): the public `_IOMobileFramebufferSwap*` entrypoints are
thin dispatch trampolines (`cbz x0; ldr xN,[x0,#slot]; cbz xN; braaz xN`) that
tail-call a per-connection swap fp (kern or virt impl). Rewrite each trampoline's
first instruction to `b _kern_Swap<Name>` -- args untouched, so this is
behaviourally identical to the connection having selected the kern fp. Fully
dynamic: public + `_kern_` addrs resolved by name via `ipsw dyld symaddr`,
trampoline shape verified by Capstone, branch bytes from the Keystone `asm_at()`
helper, modified DSC code pages re-attested. Runtime: 31 entrypoints retargeted,
4 non-trampoline setters left on virt, required {SwapBegin,SwapEnd,SwapSetLayer}
present.
Kernel (KernelJBPatchIomfbSwap, re-enabled in KernelJBPatcher.findAll): iOS 27's
native SwapEnd struct is 0x6e0 bytes (26.x sent 0x588) and the 26.4 userclient
exact-checks 0x588 in two places, so method 5 would return kIOReturnBadArgument.
patchIomfbSwapEndVariableSize flips the dispatch-table checkStructureInputSize
0x588 -> kIOUCVariableStructureSize; patchIomfbSwapEndHandlerSize retargets the
handler's internal `cmp w2,#0x588` -> #0x6e0. 27's IOMFBSwapRec prefix matches
26.x, so the paravirt swap handler reads valid fields. patchParavirtDisplayPrimary
stays disabled (wrong theory, harmful -- see JB-02c).
Validated on-device (17,3_27.0_24A5380h + cloudOS 26.4 c0ecdb4b, JB): clean boot,
no kIOReturnBadArgument / SwapEnd rejection / SECURITY_POLICY kill / panic, and
the iOS 27 userland now renders AND is interactive in the native VZ view.
research/0_binary_patch_comparison.md: DSC-patch item 9 corrected (27 no longer
size-truncated), new item 11 (force-kern), JB-26/27 rows added, all marked
validated.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <[email protected]>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_013pk5tsoBeuu3jhkmnRFtic
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]>