vphone-cli/research/0_binary_patch_comparison.md

Patch Comparison: Regular / Development / Jailbreak

Boot Chain Patches

AVPBooter

#	Patch	Purpose	Regular	Dev	JB
1	mov x0, #0	DGST signature validation bypass	Y	Y	Y

iBSS

#	Patch	Purpose	Regular	Dev	JB
1	Serial labels (2x)	"Loaded iBSS" in serial log	Y	Y	Y
2	image4_validate_property_callback	Signature bypass (b.ne -> NOP, mov x0,x22 -> mov x0,#0)	Y	Y	Y
3	Skip generate_nonce	Keep apnonce stable for SHSH (tbz -> unconditional b)	-	-	Y

iBEC

#	Patch	Purpose	Regular	Dev	JB
1	Serial labels (2x)	"Loaded iBEC" in serial log	Y	Y	Y
2	image4_validate_property_callback	Signature bypass	Y	Y	Y
3	Boot-args redirect	ADRP+ADD -> serial=3 -v debug=0x2014e %s	Y	Y	Y

LLB

#	Patch	Purpose	Regular	Dev	JB
1	Serial labels (2x)	"Loaded LLB" in serial log	Y	Y	Y
2	image4_validate_property_callback	Signature bypass	Y	Y	Y
3	Boot-args redirect	ADRP+ADD -> serial=3 -v debug=0x2014e %s	Y	Y	Y
4	Rootfs bypass (5 patches)	Allow edited rootfs loading	Y	Y	Y
5	Panic bypass	NOP cbnz after mov w8,#0x328 check	Y	Y	Y

TXM

#	Patch	Purpose	Regular	Dev	JB
1	Trustcache binary-search bypass	bl hash_cmp -> mov x0, #0	Y	Y	Y
2	Selector24 bypass: mov w0, #0xa1	Return PASS (byte 1 = 0) after prologue	-	Y	Y
3	Selector24 bypass: b <epilogue>	Skip validation, jump to register restore	-	Y	Y
4	get-task-allow (selector 41|29)	bl -> mov x0, #1	-	Y	Y
5	Selector42|29 shellcode: branch to cave	Redirect dispatch stub to shellcode	-	Y	Y
6	Selector42|29 shellcode: NOP pad	UDF -> NOP in code cave	-	Y	Y
7	Selector42|29 shellcode: mov x0, #1	Set return value to true	-	Y	Y
8	Selector42|29 shellcode: strb w0, [x20, #0x30]	Set manifest flag	-	Y	Y
9	Selector42|29 shellcode: mov x0, x20	Restore context pointer	-	Y	Y
10	Selector42|29 shellcode: branch back	Return from shellcode to stub+4	-	Y	Y
11	Debugger entitlement (selector 42|37)	bl -> mov w0, #1	-	Y	Y
12	Developer mode bypass	NOP conditional guard before deny path	-	Y	Y

Kernelcache

Base Patches (All Variants)

#	Patch	Function	Purpose	Regular	Dev	JB
1	NOP tbnz w8,#5	_apfs_vfsop_mount	Skip root snapshot sealed-volume check	Y	Y	Y
2	NOP conditional	_authapfs_seal_is_broken	Skip root volume seal panic	Y	Y	Y
3	NOP conditional	_bsd_init	Skip rootvp not-authenticated panic	Y	Y	Y
4-5	mov w0,#0; ret	_proc_check_launch_constraints	Bypass launch constraints	Y	Y	Y
6-7	mov x0,#1 (2x)	PE_i_can_has_debugger	Enable kernel debugger	Y	Y	Y
8	NOP	_postValidation	Skip AMFI post-validation	Y	Y	Y
9	cmp w0,w0	_postValidation	Force comparison true	Y	Y	Y
10-11	mov w0,#1 (2x)	_check_dyld_policy_internal	Allow dyld loading	Y	Y	Y
12	mov w0,#0	_apfs_graft	Allow APFS graft	Y	Y	Y
13	cmp x0,x0	_apfs_vfsop_mount	Skip mount check	Y	Y	Y
14	mov w0,#0	_apfs_mount_upgrade_checks	Allow mount upgrade	Y	Y	Y
15	mov w0,#0	_handle_fsioc_graft	Allow fsioc graft	Y	Y	Y
16	NOP (3x)	handle_get_dev_by_role	Bypass APFS role-lookup deny gates for boot mounts	Y	Y	Y
17-26	mov x0,#0; ret (5 hooks)	Sandbox MACF ops table	Stub 5 sandbox hooks	Y	Y	Y

JB-Only Kernel Methods (Reference List)

#	Group	Method	Function	Purpose	JB Enabled
JB-01	A	patch_amfi_cdhash_in_trustcache	AMFIIsCDHashInTrustCache	Always return true + store hash	Y
JB-02	A	patch_amfi_execve_kill_path	AMFI execve kill return site	Convert shared kill return from deny to allow (superseded by C21; standalone only)	N
JB-03	C	patch_cred_label_update_execve	_cred_label_update_execve	Reworked C21-v3: C21-v1 already boots; v3 keeps split late exits and additionally ORs success-only helper bits 0xC after clearing 0x3F00; still disabled pending boot validation	N
JB-04	C	patch_hook_cred_label_update_execve	sandbox mpo_cred_label_update_execve wrapper (ops[18] -> sub_FFFFFE00093BDB64)	Faithful upstream C23 trampoline: copy VSUID/VSGID owner state into pending cred, set P_SUGID, then branch back to wrapper	Y
JB-05	C	patch_kcall10	sysent[439] (SYS_kas_info replacement)	Rebuilt ABI-correct kcall cave: target + 7 args -> uint64 x0; re-enabled after focused dry-run validation	Y
JB-06	B	patch_post_validation_additional	_postValidation (additional)	Disable SHA256-only hash-type reject	Y
JB-07	C	patch_syscallmask_apply_to_proc	syscallmask apply wrapper (_proc_apply_syscall_masks path)	Faithful upstream C22: mutate installed Unix/Mach/KOBJ masks to all-ones via structural cave, then continue into setter; distinct from NULL-mask alternative	Y
JB-08	A	patch_task_conversion_eval_internal	_task_conversion_eval_internal	Allow task conversion	Y
JB-09	A	patch_sandbox_hooks_extended	Sandbox MACF ops (extended)	Stub remaining 30+ sandbox hooks (incl. IOKit 201..210)	Y
JB-10	A	patch_iouc_failed_macf	IOUC MACF shared gate	A5-v2: patch only the post-mac_iokit_check_open deny gate (CBZ W0, allow -> B allow) and keep the rest of the IOUserClient open path intact	Y
JB-11	B	patch_proc_security_policy	_proc_security_policy	Bypass security policy	Y
JB-12	B	patch_proc_pidinfo	_proc_pidinfo	Allow pid 0 info	Y
JB-13	B	patch_convert_port_to_map	_convert_port_to_map_with_flavor	Skip kernel map panic	Y
JB-14	B	patch_bsd_init_auth	_bsd_init rootauth-failure branch	Ignore FSIOC_KERNEL_ROOTAUTH failure in bsd_init; same gate as base patch #3 when layered	Y
JB-15	B	patch_dounmount	_dounmount	Allow unmount via upstream coveredvp cleanup-call NOP	Y
JB-16	B	patch_io_secure_bsd_root	AppleARMPE::callPlatformFunction ("SecureRootName" return select), called from IOSecureBSDRoot	Force "SecureRootName" policy return to success without altering callback flow; implementation retargeted 2026-03-06	Y
JB-17	B	patch_load_dylinker	_load_dylinker	Skip strict LC_LOAD_DYLINKER == "/usr/lib/dyld" gate	Y
JB-18	B	patch_mac_mount	___mac_mount	Upstream mount-role wrapper bypass (tbnz NOP + role-byte zeroing)	Y
JB-19	B	patch_nvram_verify_permission	_verifyPermission (NVRAM)	Allow NVRAM writes	Y
JB-20	B	patch_shared_region_map	_shared_region_map_and_slide_setup	Force root-vs-process-root mount compare to succeed before Cryptex fallback	Y
JB-21	B	patch_spawn_validate_persona	_spawn_validate_persona	Upstream dual-cbz persona helper bypass	Y
JB-22	B	patch_task_for_pid	_task_for_pid	Allow task_for_pid via upstream early pid == 0 gate NOP	Y
JB-23	B	patch_thid_should_crash	_thid_should_crash	Prevent GUARD_TYPE_MACH_PORT crash	Y
JB-24	B	patch_vm_fault_enter_prepare	_vm_fault_enter_prepare	Force cs_bypass fast path in runtime fault validation	Y
JB-25	B	patch_vm_map_protect	_vm_map_protect	Skip upstream write-downgrade gate in vm_map_protect	Y

CFW Installation Patches

Binary Patches Applied Over SSH Ramdisk

#	Patch	Binary	Purpose	Regular	Dev	JB
1	/%s.gl -> /AA.gl	seputil	Gigalocker UUID fix	Y	Y	Y
2	NOP cache validation	launchd_cache_loader	Allow modified launchd.plist	Y	Y	Y
3	mov x0,#1; ret	mobileactivationd	Activation bypass	Y	Y	Y
4	Plist injection	launchd.plist	bash/dropbear/trollvnc/vphoned daemons	Y	Y	Y
5	b (skip jetsam guard)	launchd	Prevent jetsam panic on boot	-	Y	Y
6	LC_LOAD_DYLIB injection	launchd	Load short alias /b (copy of launchdhook.dylib) at launch	-	-	Y

Installed Components

#	Component	Description	Regular	Dev	JB
1	Cryptex SystemOS + AppOS	Decrypt AEA + mount + copy to device	Y	Y	Y
2	GPU driver	AppleParavirtGPUMetalIOGPUFamily bundle	Y	Y	Y
3	iosbinpack64	Jailbreak tools (base set)	Y	Y	Y
4	iosbinpack64 dev overlay	Replace rpcserver_ios with dev build	-	Y	-
5	vphoned	vsock HID/control daemon (built + signed)	Y	Y	Y
6	LaunchDaemons	bash/dropbear/trollvnc/rpcserver_ios/vphoned plists	Y	Y	Y
7	Procursus bootstrap	Bootstrap filesystem + optional Sileo deb	-	-	Y
8	BaseBin hooks	systemhook.dylib / launchdhook.dylib / libellekit.dylib -> /cores/ plus /b alias for launchdhook.dylib	-	-	Y
9	TweakLoader.dylib	Lean user-tweak loader built from source and installed to /var/jb/usr/lib/TweakLoader.dylib	-	-	Y

CFW Installer Flow Matrix (Script-Level)

Flow Item	Regular (cfw_install.sh)	Dev (cfw_install_dev.sh)	JB (cfw_install_jb.sh)
Base CFW phases (1/7 -> 7/7)	Runs directly	Runs directly	Runs via CFW_SKIP_HALT=1 zsh cfw_install.sh
Dev overlay (rpcserver_ios replacement)	-	Y (apply_dev_overlay)	-
SSH readiness wait before install	Y (wait_for_device_ssh_ready)	-	Y (inherited from base run)
launchd jetsam patch (patch-launchd-jetsam)	-	Y (base-flow injection)	Y (JB-1)
launchd dylib injection (inject-dylib /b)	-	-	Y (JB-1)

| Procursus bootstrap deployment | - | - | Y (JB-2) | | BaseBin hook deployment (*.dylib -> /mnt1/cores) | - | - | Y (JB-3) | | First-boot JB finalization (vphone_jb_setup.sh) | - | - | Y (post-boot; now fails before done marker if TrollStore Lite install does not complete) | | Additional input resources | cfw_input | cfw_input + resources/cfw_dev/rpcserver_ios | cfw_input + cfw_jb_input | | Extra tool requirement beyond base | - | - | zstd | | Halt behavior | Halts unless CFW_SKIP_HALT=1 | Halts unless CFW_SKIP_HALT=1 | Always halts after JB phases |

Summary

Component	Regular	Dev	JB
AVPBooter	1	1	1
iBSS	2	2	3
iBEC	3	3	3
LLB	6	6	6
TXM	1	12	12
Kernel (base)	28	28	28
Kernel (JB methods)	-	-	59
Boot chain total	41	52	112
CFW binary patches	4	5	6
CFW installed components	6	7	9
CFW total	10	12	15
Grand total	51	64	127

Ramdisk Variant Matrix

Variant	Pre-step	Ramdisk/txm.img4	Ramdisk/krnl.ramdisk.img4	Ramdisk/krnl.img4	Effective kernel used by ramdisk_send.sh
RAMDISK	make fw_patch	release TXM + base TXM patch (1)	base kernel (28), legacy *.ramdisk preferred else derive from pristine CloudOS	restore kernel from fw_patch (28)	krnl.ramdisk.img4 preferred, fallback krnl.img4
DEV+RAMDISK	make fw_patch_dev	release TXM + base TXM patch (1)	base kernel (28), same derivation rule	restore kernel from fw_patch_dev (28)	krnl.ramdisk.img4 preferred, fallback krnl.img4
JB+RAMDISK	make fw_patch_jb	release TXM + base TXM patch (1)	base kernel (28), same derivation rule	restore kernel from fw_patch_jb (28+59)	krnl.ramdisk.img4 preferred, fallback krnl.img4

Cross-Version Dynamic Snapshot

Case	TXM_JB_PATCHES	KERNEL_JB_PATCHES
PCC 26.1 (23B85)	14	59
PCC 26.3 (23D128)	14	59
iOS 26.1 (23B85)	14	59
iOS 26.3 (23D127)	14	59

Swift Migration Notes (2026-03-10)

• Swift FirmwarePatcher now matches the Python reference patch output across all checked components:
  • avpbooter 1/1
  • ibss 4/4
  • ibec 7/7
  • llb 13/13
  • txm 1/1
  • txm_dev 12/12
  • kernelcache 28/28
  • ibss_jb 1/1
  • kernelcache_jb 84/84
• JB parity fixes completed in Swift:
  • C23 vnode_getattr resolution now follows the Python backward BL scan and resolves 0x00CD44F8.
  • C22 syscallmask cave encodings were corrected and centralized in ARM64Constants.swift.
  • Task-conversion matcher masks and kernel-text scan range were corrected, restoring the patch at 0x00B0C400.
  • jbDecodeBranchTarget() now correctly decodes cbz/cbnz, restoring the real _bsd_init rootauth gate at 0x00F7798C.
  • IOUC MACF matching now uses Python-equivalent disassembly semantics for the aggregator shape, restoring the deny-to-allow patch at 0x01260644.
• C24 kcall10 cave instruction bytes were re-verified against macOS clang/as; no Swift byte changes were needed.
• The Swift pipeline is now directly invokable from the product binary:
  • vphone-cli patch-firmware --vm-directory <dir> --variant {regular|dev|jb}
  • vphone-cli patch-component --component {txm|kernel-base} --input <file> --output <raw> is available for non-firmware tooling that still needs a single patched payload during ramdisk packaging
  • default loader now preserves IM4P containers via IM4PHandler
  • DeviceTree patching now uses the real Swift DeviceTreePatcher in the pipeline
  • project make fw_patch, make fw_patch_dev, and make fw_patch_jb targets now invoke this Swift pipeline via the unsigned debug vphone-cli build, while the signed release build remains reserved for VM boot/DFU paths
  • on 2026-03-11, the legacy Python firmware patcher entrypoints and patch modules were temporarily restored from pre-removal history for parity/debug work.
  • after byte-for-byte parity was revalidated against Python on 26.1 and 26.3 for regular, dev, and jb, those legacy firmware-patcher Python sources and transient comparison/export helpers were removed again so the repo keeps Swift as the single firmware-patching implementation.
• Swift pipeline follow-up fixes completed after CLI bring-up:
  • findFile() now supports glob patterns such as AVPBooter*.bin instead of treating them as literal paths.
  • JB variant sequencing now runs base iBSS/kernel patchers first, then the JB extension patchers.
  • Sequential pipeline application now merges each patcher's PatchRecord writes onto the shared output buffer while keeping later patcher searches anchored to the original payload, matching the standalone Swift/Python validation model.
  • apply() now reuses an already-populated patches array instead of re-running findAll(), so patch-firmware / patch-component no longer double-scan or double-print the same component diagnostics on a single invocation.
  • unaligned integer reads across the firmware patcher now go through a shared safe Data.loadLE(...) helper, fixing the JB IM4P crash (Swift/UnsafeRawPointer.swift:449 misaligned raw pointer load).
  • TXMPatcher now preserves pristine Python parity by preferring the legacy trustcache binary-search site when present, and only falls back to the selector24 hash-flags call chain (ldr x1, [x20,#0x38] -> add x2, sp, #4 -> bl -> ldp x0, x1, [x20,#0x30] -> add x2, sp, #8 -> bl) when rerunning on a VM tree that already carries the dev/JB selector24 early-return patch.
  • scripts/fw_prepare.sh now deletes stale sibling *Restore* directories in the working VM directory before patching continues, so a fresh make fw_prepare && make fw_patch cannot accidentally select an older prepared firmware tree (for example 26.1) when a newer one (for example 26.3) was just generated.
• IM4P/output parity fixes completed after synthetic full-pipeline comparison:
  • IM4PHandler.save() no longer forces a generic LZFSE re-encode.
  • Swift now rebuilds IM4Ps in the same effective shape as the Python patch flow and only preserves trailing PAYP metadata for TXM (trxm) and kernelcache (krnl).
  • IBootPatcher serial labels now match Python casing exactly (Loaded iBSS, Loaded iBEC, Loaded LLB).
  • DeviceTreePatcher now serializes the full patched flat tree, matching Python dtree.py, instead of relying on in-place property writes alone.
• Synthetic CLI dry-run status on 2026-03-10 using IM4P-backed inputs under ipsws/patch_refactor_input:
  • regular: 58 patch records
  • dev: 69 patch records
  • jb: 154 patch records
• Full synthetic Python-vs-Swift pipeline comparison status on 2026-03-10 using scripts/compare_swift_python_pipeline.py:
  • regular: all 7 component payloads match
  • dev: all 7 component payloads match
  • jb: all 7 component payloads match
• Real prepared-firmware Python-vs-Swift pipeline comparison status on 2026-03-10 using vm/ after make fw_prepare:
  • historical note: the now-removed scripts/compare_swift_python_pipeline.py cloned only the prepared *Restore* tree plus AVPBooter*.bin, AVPSEPBooter*.bin, and config.plist, avoiding No space left on device failures from copying Disk.img after make vm_new.
  • regular: all 7 component payloads match
  • dev: all 7 component payloads match
  • jb: all 7 component payloads match
• Runtime validation blocker observed on 2026-03-10:
  • NONE_INTERACTIVE=1 SKIP_PROJECT_SETUP=1 make setup_machine JB=1 reaches the Swift patch stage and reports [patch-firmware] applied 154 patches for jb, then fails when the flow transitions into make boot_dfu.
  • make boot_dfu originally failed at launch-policy time with exit 137 / signal 9 because the release vphone-cli could not launch on this host.
  • amfidont was then validated on-host:
    • it can attach to /usr/libexec/amfid
    • the initial path allow rule failed because AMFIPathValidator reports URL-encoded paths (/Volumes/My%20Shared%20Files/...)
    • rerunning amfidont with the encoded project path and the release-binary CDHash allows the signed release vphone-cli to launch
    • this workflow is now packaged as make amfidont_allow_vphone / scripts/start_amfidont_for_vphone.sh
  • With launch policy bypassed, make boot_dfu advances into VM setup, emits vm/udid-prediction.txt, and then fails with VZErrorDomain Code=2 "Virtualization is not available on this hardware."
  • VPhoneAppDelegate startup failure handling was tightened so these fatal boot/DFU startup errors now exit non-zero; make boot_dfu now reports make: *** [boot_dfu] Error 1 for the nested-virtualization failure instead of incorrectly returning success.
  • The host itself is a nested Apple VM (Model Name: Apple Virtual Machine 1, kern.hv_vmm_present=1), so the remaining blocker is lack of nested Virtualization.framework availability rather than firmware patching or AMFI bypass.
  • boot_binary_check now uses strict host preflight and fails earlier on this class of host with make: *** [boot_binary_check] Error 3, avoiding a wasted VM-start attempt once the nested-virtualization condition is already known.
  • Added make boot_host_preflight / scripts/boot_host_preflight.sh to capture this state in one command:
    • model: Apple Virtual Machine 1
    • kern.hv_vmm_present: 1
    • SIP: disabled
    • allow-research-guests: disabled
    • current kern.bootargs: empty
    • next-boot nvram boot-args: amfi_get_out_of_my_way=1 -v (staged on 2026-03-10; requires reboot before it affects launch policy)
    • spctl --status: assessments enabled
    • spctl --assess rejects the signed release binary
    • unsigned debug vphone-cli --help: exit 0
    • signed release vphone-cli --help: exit 137
    • freshly signed debug control binary --help: exit 137

Automation Notes (2026-03-06)

• scripts/setup_machine.sh non-interactive flow fix: renamed local variable status to boot_state in first-boot log wait and boot-analysis wait helpers to avoid zsh status read-only special parameter collision.
• scripts/setup_machine.sh non-interactive first-boot wait fix: replaced (( waited++ )) with (( ++waited )) in monitor_boot_log_until to avoid set -e abort when arithmetic expression evaluates to 0.
• scripts/jb_patch_autotest.sh loop fix for sweep stability under set -e: replaced ((idx++)) with (( ++idx )).
• scripts/jb_patch_autotest.sh zsh compatibility fix: renamed per-case result variable status to case_status to avoid status read-only special parameter collision.
• scripts/jb_patch_autotest.sh selection logic update:
  • default run now excludes methods listed in KernelJBPatcher._DEV_SINGLE_WORKING_METHODS (pending-only sweep).
  • set JB_AUTOTEST_INCLUDE_WORKING=1 to include already-working methods and run the full list.
• Sweep run record:
  • setup_logs/jb_patch_tests_20260306_114417 (2026-03-06): aborted at [1/20] with read-only variable: status in jb_patch_autotest.sh.
  • setup_logs/jb_patch_tests_20260306_115027 (2026-03-06): rerun after status fix, pending-only mode (Total methods: 19).
• Final run result from jb_patch_tests_20260306_115027 at 2026-03-06 13:17:
  • Finished: 19/19 (PASS=15, FAIL=4, all fails rc=2).
  • Failing methods at that time: patch_bsd_init_auth, patch_io_secure_bsd_root, patch_vm_fault_enter_prepare, patch_cred_label_update_execve.
  • 2026-03-06 follow-up: patch_io_secure_bsd_root failure is now attributed to a wrong-site patch in AppleARMPE::callPlatformFunction ("SecureRoot" gate at 0xFFFFFE000836E1F0), not the intended "SecureRootName" deny-return path. The code was retargeted the same day to 0xFFFFFE000836E464 and re-enabled for the next restore/boot check.
  • 2026-03-06 follow-up: patch_bsd_init_auth was retargeted after confirming the old matcher was hitting unrelated code; keep disabled in default schedule until a fresh clean-baseline boot test passes.
  • Final case: [19/19] patch_syscallmask_apply_to_proc (PASS).
  • 2026-03-06 re-analysis: that historical PASS is now treated as a false positive for functionality, because the recorded bytes landed at 0xfffffe00093ae6e4/0xfffffe00093ae6e8 inside _profile_syscallmask_destroy underflow handling, not in _proc_apply_syscall_masks.
  • 2026-03-06 code update: scripts/patchers/kernel_jb_patch_syscallmask.py was rebuilt to target the real syscallmask apply wrapper structurally and now dry-runs on PCC-CloudOS-26.1-23B85 kernelcache.research.vphone600 with 3 writes: 0x02395530, 0x023955E8, and cave 0x00AB1720. User-side boot validation succeeded the same day.
• 2026-03-06 follow-up: patch_kcall10 was rebuilt from the old ABI-unsafe pseudo-10-arg design into an ABI-correct sysent[439] cave. Focused dry-run on PCC-CloudOS-26.1-23B85 kernelcache.research.vphone600 now emits 4 writes: cave 0x00AB1720, sy_call 0x0073E180, sy_arg_munge32 0x0073E188, and metadata 0x0073E190; the method was re-enabled in _GROUP_C_METHODS.
  • Observed failure symptom in current failing set: first boot panic before command injection (or boot process early exit).
• Post-run schedule change (per user request):
  • commented out failing methods from default KernelJBPatcher._PATCH_METHODS schedule in scripts/patchers/kernel_jb.py:
    • patch_bsd_init_auth
    • patch_io_secure_bsd_root
    • patch_vm_fault_enter_prepare
    • patch_cred_label_update_execve
• 2026-03-06 re-research note for patch_cred_label_update_execve:
  • old entry-time early-return strategy was identified as boot-unsafe because it skipped AMFI exec-time csflags and entitlement propagation entirely.
  • implementation was reworked to a success-tail trampoline that preserves normal AMFI processing and only clears restrictive csflags bits on the success path.
  • default JB schedule still keeps the method disabled until the reworked strategy is boot-validated.
• Manual DEV+single (setup_machine + PATCH=<method>) working set now includes:
  • patch_amfi_cdhash_in_trustcache
  • patch_amfi_execve_kill_path
  • patch_task_conversion_eval_internal
  • patch_sandbox_hooks_extended
  • patch_post_validation_additional
• 2026-03-07 host-side note:
  • reviewed private Virtualization.framework display APIs against the recorder pipeline in sources/vphone-cli/VPhoneScreenRecorder.swift.
  • replaced the old AppKit-first recorder path with a private-display-only implementation built around hidden VZGraphicsDisplay._takeScreenshotWithCompletionHandler: capture.
  • added still screenshot actions that can copy the captured image to the pasteboard or save a PNG to disk using the same private capture path.
  • make build is used as the sanity check path; live VM validation is still needed to confirm the exact screenshot object type returned on macOS 15.
• 2026-03-15 tooling source sync update:
  • removed ad-hoc git clone source fetching from scripts/setup_tools.sh and scripts/setup_libimobiledevice.sh.
  • added pinned git-submodule sources under scripts/repos/ for: trustcache, insert_dylib, libplist, libimobiledevice-glue, libusbmuxd, libtatsu, libimobiledevice, libirecovery, idevicerestore.
  • setup scripts now initialize required submodules via git submodule update --init --recursive <path> and stage build copies under local tool build directories.