I'm trying to setup device attestation. I believe I have everything setup correctly but the final step of signature validation never succeeds. I've added validation on the client side for debugging and it doesn't validate using CryptoKit.
After the assertion is created, I try to validate it:
assertion = try await DCAppAttestService.shared.generateAssertion(keyId, clientDataHash: clientDataHash)
await validateAssertionLocallyForDebugging(keyId: keyId, assertionObject: assertion, clientDataHash: clientDataHash)
In the validateAssertionLocallyForDebugging method, I extract all the data from the CBOR assertionObject and then setup the parameters to validate the signature, using the key that was created from the original attestation flow, but it fails every time. I'm getting the public key from the server using a temporary debugging API.
let publicKeyData = Data(base64Encoded: publicKeyB64)!
let p256PublicKey = try P256.Signing.PublicKey(derRepresentation: publicKeyData)
let ecdsaSignature = try P256.Signing.ECDSASignature(derRepresentation: signature)
let digestToVerify = SHA256.hash(data: authenticatorData + clientDataHash)
print(" - Recreated Digest to Verify: \(Data(digestToVerify).hexDescription)")
if p256PublicKey.isValidSignature(ecdsaSignature, for: digestToVerify) {
print("[DEBUG] SUCCESS: Local signature validation passed!")
} else {
print("[DEBUG] FAILED: Local signature validation failed.")
}
I have checked my .entitlements file and it is set to development. I have checked the keyId and verified the public key. I have verified the public key X,Y, the RP ID Hash, COSE data, and pretty much anything else I could think of. I've also tried using Gemini and Claude to debug this and that just sends me in circles of trying hashed, unhashed, and double hashed clientData. I'm doing this from Xcode on an M3 macbook air to an iPhone 16 Pro Max. Do you have any ideas on why the signature is not validating with everything else appears to be working?
Thanks
General
RSS for tagPrioritize user privacy and data security in your app. Discuss best practices for data handling, user consent, and security measures to protect user information.
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Hello
I'm using Auth0 for handling auth in my app
When the user wants to sign in, it will show the auth system pop-up
And when the user wants to log out it shows the same pop-up
My issue is how to replace the Sign In text in this pop-up to show Sign Out instead of Sign In when the user wants to sign out?
Hi everyone,
I’m working on adapting our app to iOS 26’s new passkey feature, specifically Automatic Passkey Upgrades.
https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2025/279/
Our app already supports passkey registration and authentication, which have been running reliably in production. We’d like to extend passkey coverage to more users.
According to the WWDC session, adding the parameter requestStyle: .conditional to createCredentialRegistrationRequest should allow the system to seamlessly upgrade an account with a passkey. However, in my testing, I consistently receive the following error:
Error | Error Domain=com.apple.AuthenticationServices.AuthorizationError Code=1001 "(null)"
Test environment:
Xcode 26.0 beta 4 (17A5285i)
iPhone 11 running iOS 26.0 (23A5297n)
Questions:
Is the Automatic Passkey Upgrades feature currently available in iOS 26?
I understand that the system may perform internal checks and not all upgrade attempts will succeed. However, during development, is there a way to obtain more diagnostic information? At the moment, it’s unclear whether the failure is due to internal validation or an issue with my code or environment.
Thanks.
Hi everyone,
I'm developing an iOS app using the AppsFlyer SDK. I understand that starting with iOS 14.5, if a user denies the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) permission, we are not allowed to access the IDFA or perform cross-app tracking.
However, I’d like to clarify which in-app events are still legally and technically safe to send when the user denies ATT permission.
Specifically, I want to know:
Is it acceptable to send events like onboarding_completed, paywall_viewed, subscription_started, subscribe, subscribe_price, or app_opened if they are not linked to IDFA or any form of user tracking?
Would sending such internal behavioral events (used purely for SKAdNetwork performance tracking or in-app analytics) violate Apple’s privacy policy if no device identifiers are attached?
Additionally, if these events are sent in fully anonymous form (i.e., not associated with IDFA, user ID, email, or any identifiable metadata), does Apple still consider this a privacy concern? In other words, can onboarding_completed, paywall_viewed, subsribe, subscribe_price, etc., be sent in anonymous format without violating ATT policies?
Are there any official Apple guidelines or best practices that outline what types of events are considered compliant in the absence of ATT consent?
My goal is to remain 100% compliant with Apple’s policies while still analyzing meaningful user behavior to improve the in-app experience.
Any clarification or pointers to documentation would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance!
Like many/most developers, I gave Connect the info required to comply with the DSA. Perhaps unlike most, I always give unique email addresses so that I can easily track the source of abuse. Yesterday I finally had a phish come in to my DSA address claiming "Message blocked" and doing the standard click-to-login-for-details FOMO bait.
So, yep, DSA just becomes yet another public database that malicious actors can use to target you.
It would be really nice if Apple provided a way to supply our contact info only for legitimate business purposes. Mail Privacy Protection (or similar) for this would be a start.
I'm using Secure Enclave to generate and use a private key like this:
let access = SecAccessControlCreateWithFlags(nil,
kSecAttrAccessibleWhenUnlockedThisDeviceOnly,
[.privateKeyUsage, .biometryAny],
nil)
let attributes: [String: Any] = [
kSecAttrKeyType as String: kSecAttrKeyTypeECSECPrimeRandom,
kSecAttrKeySizeInBits as String: 256,
kSecAttrTokenID as String: kSecAttrTokenIDSecureEnclave,
kSecAttrAccessControl as String: access as Any,
kSecAttrApplicationTag as String: "com.example.key".data(using: .utf8)!,
kSecReturnRef as String: true
]
let privateKey = SecKeyCreateRandomKey(attributes as CFDictionary, nil)
Later, I use this key to sign a message:
let signature = SecKeyCreateSignature(privateKey, .ecdsaSignatureMessageX962SHA256, dataToSign as CFData, nil)
This prompts for biometric authentication, but shows the default system text.
How can I customize or localize the biometric prompt (e.g., title, description, button text) shown during SecKeyCreateSignature?
Thanks!
I have a small command-line app I've been using for years to process files. I have it run by an Automator script, so that I can drop files onto it. It stopped working this morning.
At first, I could still run the app from the command line, without Automator. But then after I recompiled the app, now I cannot even do that. When I run it, it's saying 'zsh: killed' followed by my app's path. What is that?
The app does run if I run it from Xcode.
How do I fix this?
Topic:
Privacy & Security
SubTopic:
General
Hello, I have a password manager app and would like to help my user's to enable the Safari autofill capability. I've made the password credential extension and that is working great. I just need to help my user's enable the feature. I could point them to Settings->General->AutoFill & Password and instruct them to turn the feature on.
However, I've noticed that my competitors are able to present an alert directly from their app to turn the feature on (without going to settings at all).
I can't find any documentation on how to do this?
Thanks for your help!
//Ray
Hello,
I have a password manager app and have noticed a new feature in AutoFill & Passwords called "Set Up Codes In". I see that my competitors have been able to implement this feature but cannot find any documentation on how to do this.
How can I make it so my app can support this feature. Any help to pointing me to the documentation or otherwise would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
//Ray
In one of my apps I would like to find out if users have their device set up to authenticate with their Apple Watch.
According to the documentation (https://developer.apple.com/documentation/localauthentication/lapolicy/deviceownerauthenticationwithcompanion) this would be done by evaluating the LAPolicy like this:
var error: NSError?
var canEvaluateCompanion = false
if #available(iOS 18.0, *) {
canEvaluateCompanion = context.canEvaluatePolicy(.deviceOwnerAuthenticationWithCompanion, error: &error)
}
But when I run this on my iPhone 16 Pro (iOS 18.5) with a paired Apple Watch SE 2nd Gen (watchOS 11.5) it always returns false and the error is -1000 "No companion device available". But authentication with my watch is definitely enabled, because I regularly unlock my phone with the watch.
Other evaluations of using biometrics just works as expected.
Anything that I am missing?
We are working with an iOS app where we have enabled the “Generate Debug Symbols” setting to true in Xcode. As a result, the .dSYM files are generated and utilized in Firebase Crashlytics for crash reporting.
However, we received a note in our Vulnerability Assessment report indicating a potential security concern. The report mentions that the .ipa file could be reverse-engineered due to the presence of debug symbols, and that such symbols should not be included in a released app. We could not find any security-related information about this flag, “Generate Debug Symbols,” in Apple’s documentation.
Could you please clarify if enabling the “Generate Debug Symbols” flag in Xcode for a production app creates any security vulnerabilities, such as the one described in the report?
The report mentions the following vulnerability: TEST-0219: Testing for Debugging Symbols
The concern raised is that debugging symbols, while useful for crash symbolication, may be leveraged to reverse-engineer the app and should not be present in a production release.
Your prompt confirmation on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for your assistance.
Regarding the issue of login controls remaining on screen for a few seconds when using a subclass of SFAuthorizationPluginView, I wanted to inquire whether any progress has been made on resolving it.
To recap, per notes I found in the QAuthPlugins sample code:
Due to a bug (FB12074874), the use of an SFAuthorizationPluginView subclass can cause the login controls to remain onscreen for a significant amount of time (roughly 5 seconds) after login is complete, resulting in them being onscreen at the same time as the Finder’s menu bar and the Dock. The exact circumstances under which this happens are not well understood, but one factor seems to be running on a laptop where the main display is mirrored to an external display.
Specifically, I would like to know:
If there any other information about how the issue is reproduced? For my part I can say that it reproduces with out the use of a mirrored display. So far it reproduces for all of our developers and testers, all of the time.
Are there any known workarounds?
Is there any expectation that this issue will be addressed?
Thank you so much!
Cannot find developer mode in iPhone 16. Please help me resolve this
Topic:
Privacy & Security
SubTopic:
General
I am working on adding RFC4217 Secure FTP with TLS by extending Mike Gleason's classic libncftp client library. I refactored the code to include an FTP channel abstraction with FTP channel abstraction types for TCP, TLS, and TCP with Opportunistic TLS types. The first implementation of those included BSD sockets that libncftp has always supported with the clear TCP channel type.
I first embarked on extending the sockets implementation by adding TCP, TLS, and TCP with Opportunistic TLS channel abstraction types against the new, modern Network.framework C-based APIs, including using the “tricky” framer technique to employ a TCP with Opportunistic TLS FTP channel abstraction type to support explicit FTPS as specified by RFC4217 where you have to connect first in the clear with TCP, request AUTH TLS, and then start TLS after receiving positive confirmation. That all worked great.
Unfortunately, at the end of that effort, I discovered that many modern FTPS server implementations (vsftpd, pure-ftpd, proftpd) mandate TLS session reuse / resumption across the control and data channels, specifying the identical session ID and cipher suites across the control and data channels. Since Network.framework lacked a necessary and equivalent to the Secure Transport SSLSetPeerID, I retrenched and rewrote the necessary TLS and TCP with Opportunistic TLS FTP channel abstraction types using the now-deprecated Secure Transport APIs atop the Network.framework-based TCP clear FTP channel type abstraction I had just written.
Using the canonical test server I had been using throughout development, test.rebex.net, this Secure Transport solution seemed to work perfectly, working in clear, secure-control-only, and secure-control+data explicit FTPS operation.
I then proceeded to expand testing to include a broad set of Microsoft FTP Service, pure-ftpd, vsftpd, proftpd, and other FTP servers identified on the Internet (a subset from this list: https://gist.github.com/mnjstwins/85ac8348d6faeb32b25908d447943300).
In doing that testing, beyond test.rebex.net, I was unable to identify a single (among hundreds), that successfully work with secure-control+data explicit FTPS operation even though nearly all of them work with secure-control-only explicit FTPS operation.
So, I started regressing my libncftp + Network.framework + Secure Transport implementation against curl 8.7.1 on macOS 14.7.2 “Sonoma":
% which curl; `which curl` --version
/usr/bin/curl
curl 8.7.1 (x86_64-apple-darwin23.0) libcurl/8.7.1 (SecureTransport) LibreSSL/3.3.6 zlib/1.2.12 nghttp2/1.61.0
Release-Date: 2024-03-27
Protocols: dict file ftp ftps gopher gophers http https imap imaps ipfs ipns ldap ldaps mqtt pop3 pop3s rtsp smb smbs smtp smtps telnet tftp
Features: alt-svc AsynchDNS GSS-API HSTS HTTP2 HTTPS-proxy IPv6 Kerberos Largefile libz MultiSSL NTLM SPNEGO SSL threadsafe UnixSockets
I find that curl (also apparently written against Secure Transport) works in almost all of the cases my libncftp does not. This is a representative example:
% ./samples/misc/ncftpgetbytes -d stderr --secure --explicit --secure-both ftps://ftp.sjtu.edu.cn:21/pub/README.NetInstall
which fails in the secure-control+data case with errSSLClosedAbort on the data channel TLS handshake, just after ClientHello, attempts whereas:
% curl -4 --verbose --ftp-pasv --ftp-ssl-reqd ftp://ftp.sjtu.edu.cn:21/pub/README.NetInstall
succeeds.
I took an in-depth look at the implementation of github.com/apple-oss-distributions/curl/ and git/github.com/apple-oss-distributions/Security/ to identify areas where my implementation was, perhaps, deficient relative to curl and its curl/lib/vtls/sectransp.c Secure Transport implementation. As far as I can tell, I am doing everything consistently with what the Apple OSS implementation of curl is doing. The analysis included:
SSLSetALPNProtocols
Not applicable for FTP; only used for HTTP/2 and HTTP/3.
SSLSetCertificate
Should only be relevant when a custom, non-Keychain-based certificate is used.
SSLSetEnabledCiphers
This could be an issue; however, the cipher suite used for the data channel should be the same as that used for the control channel. curl talks about disabling "weak" cipher suites that are known-insecure even though the default suites macOS enables are unlikely to enable them.
SSLSetProtocolVersionEnabled
We do not appear to be getting a protocol version negotiation error, so this seems unlikely, but possible.
SSLSetProtocolVersionMax
We do not appear to be getting a protocol version negotiation error, so this seems unlikely, but possible.
SSLSetProtocolVersionMin
We do not appear to be getting a protocol version negotiation error, so this seems unlikely, but possible.
SSLSetSessionOption( , kSSLSessionOptionFalseStart)
curl does seem to enable this for certain versions of macOS and disables it for others. Possible.
Running curl with the --false-start option does not seem to make a difference.
SSLSetSessionOption( , kSSLSessionOptionSendOneByteRecord)
Corresponds to "*****" which seems defaulted and is related to an SSL security flaw when using CBC-based block encryption ciphers, which is not applicable here.
Based on that, further experiments I attempted included:
Disable use of kSSLSessionOptionBreakOnServerAuth: No impact
Assert use of kSSLSessionOptionFalseStart: No impact
Assert use of kSSLSessionOptionSendOneByteRecord: No impact
Use SSLSetProtocolVersionMin and SSLSetProtocolVersionMax in various combinations: No impact
Use SSLSetProtocolVersionEnabled in various combinations: No impact
Forcibly set a single cipher suite (TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384, known to work with a given server): No impact
Employ a SetDefaultCipherSuites function similar to what curl does (filtering out “weak” cipher suites): No impact
Notably, I can never coax a similar set of cipher suites that macOS curl does with that technique. In fact, it publishes ciphers that aren’t even in <Security/CipherSuite.h> nor referenced by github.com/apple-oss-distributions/curl/curl/lib/vtls/sectransp.c.
Assert use of kSSLSessionOptionAllowRenegotiation: No impact
Assert use of kSSLSessionOptionEnableSessionTickets: No impact
Looking at Wireshark, my ClientHello includes status_request, signed_certificate_timestamp, and extended_master_secret extensions whereas macOS curl's never do--same Secure Transport APIs. None of the above API experiments seem to influence the inclusion / exclusion of those three ClientHello additions.
Any suggestions are welcomed that might shine a light on what native curl has access to that allows it to work with ST for these FTP secure-control+data use cases.
Hello,
I'm seeking some clarification regarding the use of accessibility and input monitoring APIs in sandboxed apps that are distributed through the App Store.
I understand that accessibility permissions are generally restricted for App Store apps. However, I've seen several recently released apps request these permissions directly upon first launch. I'm aware that apps submitted prior to 2012 may have legacy access to certain APIs, but the ones I'm referring to appear to be recent - within the past year.
While it's possible these apps were approved despite the restrictions, I want to make sure I'm not overlooking something. I also came across a recent discussion on this topic, and one post in particular stood out: Link
I’d really appreciate some clarification on what's officially allowed. Specifically:
Are accessibility permissions ever allowed? If so, under what circumstances?
Is input monitoring permitted for apps on the App Store? (The referenced post says yes, but since it's from 2022, I just want to confirm)
The linked post suggests that event generation might be allowed on the App Store, though the author hadn’t explored that privilege in detail and recommended opening a DTS tech support incident. I’ve done that and have a support case open - would it be possible to take a closer look at this?
For context, my app (currently distributed outside the App Store) uses CGEventPost and CGEventCreateMouseEvent to modify mouse behavior.
Thank you
Hi,
I develop a Mac application, initially on Catalina/Xcode12, but I recently upgrade to Monterey/Xcode13. I'm about to publish a new version: on Monterey all works as expected, but when I try the app on Sequoia, as a last step before uploading to the App Store, I encountered some weird security issues:
The main symptom is that it's no longer possible to save any file from the app using the Save panel, although the User Select File entitlement is set to Read/Write.
I've tried reinstalling different versions of the app, including the most recent downloaded from TestFlight. But, whatever the version, any try to save using the panel (e.g. on the desktop) results in a warning telling that I don't have authorization to record the file to that folder.
Moreover, when I type spctl -a -t exec -v /Applications/***.app in the terminal, it returns rejected, even when the application has been installed by TestFlight.
An EtreCheck report tells that my app is not signed, while codesign -dv /Applications/***.app returns a valid signature. I'm lost...
It suspect a Gate Keeper problem, but I cannot found any info on the web about how this system could be reset. I tried sudo spctl --reset-default, but it returns This operation is no longer supported...
I wonder if these symptoms depend on how the app is archived and could be propagated to my final users, or just related to a corrupted install of Sequoia on my local machine. My feeling is that a signature problem should have been detected by the archive validation, but how could we be sure?
Any idea would be greatly appreciated, thanks!
We’ve noticed an unexpected behavior in our production iOS app where the UIDevice.current.identifierForVendor value occasionally changes, even though:
The app is distributed via the App Store (not TestFlight or Xcode builds)
We do not switch provisioning profiles or developer accounts
No App Clips, App Thinning, or other advanced features are in use
There’s no manual reinstall or device reset in the scenarios observed (as per user feedback)
Any insights or confirmations would be much appreciated.
Thanks!
Hi,is there an option to mark the file or folder or item stored in user defaults ... not to be backed up when doing unencrypted backup in iTunes?We are developing iOS app that contains sensitive data. But even if we enable Data Protection for the iOS app it can be backed up on mac unencrypted using iTunes. Is there a way to allow backing up content only if the backup is encrypted?
I'm working on a Password Manager app that integrates with the AutoFill Credential Provider to provide stored passwords and OTPs to the user within Safari and other apps.
Password AutoFill works perfectly.
I'm unable to get iOS to register that the app supports OTPs though.
I've followed the Apple documentation here: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/authenticationservices/providing-one-time-passcodes-to-autofill and added "ProvidesOneTimeCodes" to the AutoFill extension's Info.plist, but iOS just doesn't seem to notice the OTP support.
<key>ASCredentialProviderExtensionCapabilities</key>
<dict>
<key>ProvidesOneTimeCodes</key>
<true/>
<key>ProvidesPasswords</key>
<true/>
</dict>
Any help would be greatly appreicated!
Topic:
Privacy & Security
SubTopic:
General
Tags:
Extensions
Entitlements
Autofill
Authentication Services
I'm writing an app on macOS that stores passwords in the Keychain and later retrieves them using SecItemCopyMatching(). This works fine 90% of the time. However, occasionally, the call to SecItemCopyMatching() fails with errSecAuthFailed (-25293). When this occurs, simply restarting the app resolves the issue; otherwise, it will consistently fail with errSecAuthFailed.
What I suspect is that the Keychain access permission has a time limitation for a process. This issue always seems to arise when I keep my app running for an extended period.