Researcher Found iPhone Activation Lock Bypass via Device Migration, Apple Has Since Patched It
In June 2026, a security researcher discovered that an iPhone 13 running iOS 18.6, locked under an attacker's Apple ID after a phishing scheme, could be fully unlocked without any credentials. The method involved performing a factory reset and then using Apple's Device-to-Device Migration (Quick Start) feature with a nearby iPhone 7 running iOS 15.8.8, which silently replaced the attacker's Activation Lock with the source device's Apple ID. A second factory reset after the migration left the iPhone 13 completely free of any Activation Lock. The researcher followed a 30-day responsible disclosure process with Apple, which acknowledged the issue and confirmed the behavior is no longer present in current software builds. The findings raise broader concerns about the reliability of Activation Lock as a theft-deterrence mechanism on older iOS versions.
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