Older iPhones that store cryptocurrency seed phrases are vulnerable to physical attacks that cannot be prevented by airplane mode This article explores secrets older apple. . OneKey founder Yishi has warned that wiping an aging iPhone and keeping it offline does not make it a secure cold wallet.
Yishi's warning emphasizes the importance of keeping secrets on older Apple devices, which people often believe can eliminate the main security risks by removing network access.
A newer exploit, usbliter8, extends BootROM attacks to Apple's A12 and A13 chips, including the iPhone XS, XR, iPhone 11 family, and second-generation iPhone SE. Carefully crafted USB traffic leads to memory corruption, enabling attacker-controlled code to run before the operating system loads. The technical weakness involves faulty USB controller behavior and missing memory restrictions during early startup on affected chips.
Researchers then redirect execution and load unsigned boot software, circumventing checks that normally restrict devices to Apple-approved code.
The key limitation is that usbliter8 does not directly compromise Apple’s Secure Enclave, the separate security component safeguarding sensitive keys and passcode operations. Researchers indicate that even after the primary processor's boot chain is compromised, encrypted user data remains protected behind additional barriers. His statement describes a potential attack path, but does not suggest that every affected iPhone wallet can be emptied solely through BootROM access.
Physical USB risks also extend beyond BootROM exploits.
