Cellebrite Advanced Unlocks: an iPhone break-in "over the air" from up to 8 meters?
Translated by a model; the original is in Russian.
Bruce Schneier, citing researcher Justin.sh, reports on a confidential Cellebrite document that was leaked to the latter. It describes a new tool called Advanced Unlocks (AU for short), not to be confused with the "advanced unlocking services" the company has marketed for years. A separate press release from earlier this year confirms that AU is a new Cellebrite product slated for 2026.
What the document promises
According to Cellebrite's own materials, AU is a "next-generation AFU vector that is more resilient to Apple's OS changes." AFU stands for after first unlock — the state of a device after it has been unlocked at least once since being powered on, when the encryption keys are already loaded into memory and the handset is more exposed than it is straight after a reboot.
The document also stresses that the tool works even with Stolen Device Protection enabled — the anti-theft feature that, among other things, tightens restrictions on access through the USB port.
The detail that raises eyebrows
The most striking part is the method of connection. AU is enabled through a dedicated appliance with a stated range of roughly eight meters. That is what gives the headline its talk of a possible "radio" vulnerability: if the description holds, physical contact with the iPhone may not be required to reach it.
It is worth stressing that this is so far only the content of a leaked document, not an independently confirmed fact. In the comments to the post, one reader was quick to reassure everyone — Apple has supposedly patched it, so just update your device. Whether that is accurate, and whether it even applies to the vector described, does not follow from the published material.
If the description proves true, a wireless vector against the AFU state — resilient to OS updates and bypassing anti-theft protection — would be a notable step forward for data-extraction tools, and cause for concern among iPhone owners.
Source: Schneier on Security
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