SHSH Protocol

Here is a description about the protocol that is used when iTunes requests the SHSH certificate from Apple. For details about what this is used for, please see the main article SHSH.

This is a simple HTTP (POST) request and answer. You can retry this via a Telnet session or similar. The destination host is gs.apple.com (IP 17.112.176.11) and runs on the common HTTP port 80. The data is plaintext and not encoded in any way. For details about the HTTP protocol itself, please see RFC2616.

Sending data (request)

POST /TSS/controller?action=2 HTTP/1.1
Accept: */*
Cache-Control: no-cache
Content-type: text/xml; charset="utf-8"
User-Agent: InetURL/1.0
Content-Length: 12345
Host: gs.apple.com

(here comes the Plist request file)

Receiving data (answer)

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Date: Sun, 15 Aug 2010 19:25:18 GMT
Server: Apache-Coyote/1.1
X-Powered-By: Servlet 2.4; JBoss-4.0.5.GA (build: CVSTag=Branch_4_0 date=200610162339)/Tomcat-5.5
Content-Type: text/html
Content-Length: 123456
MS-Author-Via: DAV

STATUS=0&MESSAGE=SUCCESS&REQUEST_STRING=(here comes the requested SHSH file)

Plist request file

NOTE: This template is only for devices other than the iPhone 4

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">

<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
	<key>@HostIpAddress</key>
	<string>192.168.0.1</string>
	<key>@HostPlatformInfo</key>
	<string>windows</string> -------> "darwin" without quotes for Mac/Linux Systems
	<key>@Locality</key>
	<string>en_US</string>
	<key>@VersionInfo</key>
	<string>libauthinstall-34</string>  -------> "3.8" without quotes for Mac/Linux Systems
	<key>ApBoardID</key>
	<integer>____</integer>
	<key>ApChipID</key>
	<integer>____</integer>
	<key>ApECID</key>
	<string>*************</string>  ------------> This is your own ECID
	<key>ApProductionMode</key>
	<true />                   
	<key>ApSecurityDomain</key>
	<integer>_____</integer>
	<key>UniqueBuildID</key>
	_________________________
	<key>AppleLogo</key>
	<dict>
		<key>Digest</key>
		_________________________
		<key>PartialDigest</key>
		_________________________
		<key>Trusted</key>
		<true />
	</dict>
	<key>BatteryCharging</key>
	<dict>
		<key>Digest</key>
		_________________________
		<key>PartialDigest</key>
		_________________________
		<key>Trusted</key>
		<true />
	</dict>
	<key>BatteryCharging0</key>
 	<dict>
		<key>Digest</key>
		_________________________
		<key>PartialDigest</key>
		_________________________
 		<key>Trusted</key>
		<true />
	</dict>
	<key>BatteryCharging1</key>
	<dict>
 		<key>Digest</key>
 		_________________________
		<key>PartialDigest</key>
 		_________________________
 		<key>Trusted</key>
 		<true />
 	</dict>
 	<key>BatteryFull</key>
	<dict>
		<key>Digest</key>
		_________________________
		<key>PartialDigest</key>
		_________________________
		<key>Trusted</key>
		<true />
	</dict>
	<key>BatteryLow0</key>
	<dict>
		<key>Digest</key>
		_________________________
		<key>PartialDigest</key>
		_________________________
		<key>Trusted</key>
		<true />
	</dict>
	<key>BatteryLow1</key>
	<dict>
		<key>Digest</key>
		_________________________
		<key>PartialDigest</key>
		_________________________
		<key>Trusted</key>
		<true />
	</dict>
	<key>BatteryPlugin</key>
	<dict>
		<key>Digest</key>
		_________________________
 		<key>PartialDigest</key>
		_________________________
		<key>Trusted</key>
		<true />
	</dict>
	<key>DeviceTree</key>
	<dict>
		<key>Digest</key>
		_________________________
		<key>PartialDigest</key>
		_________________________
		<key>Trusted</key>
		<true />
	</dict>
	<key>KernelCache</key>
	<dict>
		<key>Digest</key>
		_________________________
		<key>PartialDigest</key>
		_________________________
		<key>Trusted</key>
		<true />
	</dict>
	<key>LLB</key>
	<dict>
		<key>BuildString</key>
		<string>_________________________</string>
		<key>PartialDigest</key>
		_________________________
	</dict>
	<key>RecoveryMode</key>
	<dict>
		<key>Digest</key>
		_________________________
		<key>PartialDigest</key>
		_________________________
		<key>Trusted</key>
		<true />
	</dict>
	<key>RestoreDeviceTree</key>
	<dict>
		<key>Digest</key>
		_________________________
		<key>PartialDigest</key>
		_________________________
		<key>Trusted</key>
		<true />
	</dict>
	<key>RestoreKernelCache</key>
	<dict>
		<key>Digest</key>
		_________________________
		<key>PartialDigest</key>
		_________________________
		<key>Trusted</key>
		<true />
	</dict>
	<key>RestoreLogo</key>
	<dict>
		<key>Digest</key>
		_________________________
		<key>PartialDigest</key>
		_________________________
		<key>Trusted</key>
		<true />
	</dict>
	<key>RestoreRamDisk</key>
	<dict>
		<key>Digest</key>
 		_________________________
		<key>PartialDigest</key>
		_________________________
		<key>Trusted</key>
		<true />
	</dict>
	<key>iBEC</key>
	<dict>
		<key>BuildString</key>
		<string>_________________________</string>
		<key>PartialDigest</key>
		_________________________
	</dict>
	<key>iBSS</key>
	<dict>
		<key>BuildString</key>
		<string>_________________________</string>
		<key>PartialDigest</key>
		_________________________
	</dict>
	<key>iBoot</key>
	<dict>
		<key>Digest</key>
 		_________________________
		<key>PartialDigest</key>
		_________________________
		<key>Trusted</key>
		<true />
	</dict>
</dict>
</plist>

The underlined values( _______ ) can be found from the BuildManifest.plist which is located inside a IPSW file.

Other parameters / open questions

Some parameters could have other values. Not all details are known.

• action=2 in the request. What other values exist and what is their meaning?
• STATUS=0&MESSAGE=SUCCESS in the answer. What other values exist?
• ApProductionMode What does this mean? Is there a test environment?
• ApSecurityDomain Meaning?
• Trusted What is this for?
• Full description of the above values for UniqueBuildID, Digest, PartialDigest and BuildString.

Resources

vbUmbrella source code by iSn0wra1n