Friday, July 18, 2014

Resetting a restrictions code on an iPad or other iOS device.

This week I ran into a situation where a user had forgotten their Restrictions Passcode for their iPad.

It took a little time and research but I was able to decode the code with a little help.  There was no single source for the information so here it is below

Install iTunes

Do a backup

Run iPhone backup extractor (or whatever other app you can find to decrypt the data for free)

Find the entry for and save/export it.

Open the exported file in notepad or another text editor.

Look for the <key>RestrictionsPasswordKey</key>  copy the string between <data> and </data> (it will look like ymYxvOHRmjOQZFDThc3wC9wtuRE= or something similar. Paste it in a blank note pad document remove any preceding or trailing spaces.

Now find <key>RestrictionsPasswordSalt</key> and the copy and paste what is in the <data></data> into the word doc on a separate line.  It will look similar to the PasswordKey only shorter.

Paste the key and salt in their respective fields.

Starting passcode is 0000 last code is 9999 and click search for code.

You can open multiple windows or tabs to search for different ranges.  For example have one window search for passcodes between 0000 and 5000 and another window search for 5001 to 9999.  Separate instances will speed up the search if you are in a hurry.

When a code is found a pop up will come up telling you a code is found.