Apple corrects an exploit that allowed the deactivation of the USB mode restricted on iPhones and blocked iPads

Apple has launched an update of the iOS 18.3.1 and ipados system 18.3.1 that solves an error that allowed attackers to deactivate the USB mode restricted on a tablet or a blocked ‘smartphone’, a problem that has been qualified as “extremely sophisticated”.

The restricted USB mode is a security function that Apple introduced 114.4.1 in iOS and that prevents unauthorized access to an iPhone or iPad through the USB port of these mobile devices. It does so with the aim of protecting the data and sensitive information that they store, which is why it also requests the user’s consent before connecting it to a MAC computer or a Windows PC.

To activate this protection, you must access the settings section, choose Face or Touch ID and access code. Within this section, another button indicates accessories. This switch must be disabled, something that already comes in a default.

Apple has announced a vulnerability registered as CVE-2025-24200, discovered by the security researcher Bill Marczak of The Citizen Lab of the University of Toronto, which allowed to disable this security mode through “a physical attack” on a blocked device.

With this, the technology has underlined on its support website that “has knowledge of a report that indicates that this problem could have been exploited in an extremely sophisticated attack against specific individuals.”

IOS 18.3.1 can already be downloaded through the ‘software’ update tab in iPhone XS and posterior terminals. Ipados 18.3.1, on the other hand, on IPAD Pro of 13 inches, iPad Pro of 12.9 inches of 3rd generation and subsequent versions, iPad Air of 3rd generation and later, iPad of 7th generation and later, and iPad Mini de Quinta de Quinta generation and later.