Binance Warns Against iOS Vulnerability That Affects iPhone Crypto Holders—Is the Issue Fixed? - Tech Times
Binance has issued a warning to iPhone cryptocurrency holders about a newly disclosed security flaw in Apple's operating system that allows malicious apps to read local files.
Binance has alerted its users to a critical security vulnerability in Apple's iOS operating system that could expose sensitive cryptocurrency data stored on iPhones.
The flaw, tracked as "worse_query," allows malicious applications to bypass the iOS sandbox and read files belonging to other apps on the same device.
This poses a direct threat to the security of cryptocurrency wallets, which often store recovery phrases and private keys locally on the device.
iOS Vulnerability Exposes Crypto Data
Binance posted a warning on its official X account, stating that the vulnerability affects iOS versions 26.7.1, 27.0.1, and 27.2.
The exchange emphasized that the issue is a system-level problem within iOS itself and is not specific to its own platform.
"This is an iOS-level issue, not unique to Binance," the exchange stated in its post.
Security researchers @0xjohnny and @forcequitOS disclosed the flaw and published a proof-of-concept demonstration on GitHub.
The researchers showed how the flaw can be used to bypass iOS sandbox protections without requiring a jailbreak of the device.
Real-World Threat to Wallets
The researchers confirmed that the attack surface is not purely theoretical, as other developers have already built applications using the technique.
At least one file manager application has been confirmed to be using the vulnerability to access and modify data from other apps.
For cryptocurrency holders, the risk is severe because seed phrases act as the master keys to a wallet.
If a malicious app can silently read a seed phrase stored locally, the consequences for the holder could be total and irreversible.
Apple Has Not Patched the Flaw
Apple's most recent security update, iOS 27.2.1, addressed a range of vulnerabilities but does not include a fix for the worse_query flaw.
Researcher @forcequitOS confirmed that the vulnerability remains unpatched in iOS 27.2.1 and is also absent from iOS 27.3 beta 1.
"I'll update version support on the readme when it is patched," the researcher wrote.
Apple has not issued any public statement regarding the vulnerability or confirmed whether a patch is in development.
Neither Binance nor the researchers have reported any confirmed attacks or cryptocurrency thefts specifically attributed to this vulnerability as of the time of publication.
Immediate Steps for Users
Binance has recommended that affected users take immediate steps to secure their assets.
- Delete any apps installed from untrusted sources, such as sideloaded or manually signed IPA files.
- Update iOS and all installed applications to the latest available versions.
- If a breach is suspected, transfer funds to a new wallet created on a clean device and reset all active login sessions.
The vulnerability is specific to iOS and does not affect Android devices, which operate on a different security architecture.
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