iPhone Jailbreak Gets Past Lockdown Mode and Survives an Update

Just over a week after jailbreaking an iPhone Duo on launch day, hacker team Calif is back with another jailbreak demonstration. This time, the group has jailbroken an iPhone in Lockdown Mode, and the jailbreak appears to persist across an iOS update.

Calif shared a video of a jailbroken iPhone 18 Pro with Lockdown Mode on. From there, iOS 27.2 is installed, and the jailbreak remains in place after the update. It isn't clear whether the jailbreak could be installed on a device already running iOS 27.2.

Apple describes Lockdown Mode as "extreme protection" for individuals who might be targeted by sophisticated mercenary spyware. Lockdown Mode disables a long list of features, blocking most message attachment types, limiting web technologies, blocking FaceTime calls from unfamiliar callers, disabling invites for Apple services, and removing location information from photos.

The video shows a malicious PDF sent to the target iPhone using AirDrop to initiate the jailbreak, with the file accepted by the user. Calif hasn't shared additional information, and the exact jailbreak steps are unknown.

Earlier this year, Apple told TechCrunch that it was not aware of any successful mercenary spyware attacks against an iPhone in Lockdown Mode.

Calif previously said it was disclosing vulnerabilities to Apple and did not plan to release a jailbreak tool for end users.