Apple has finally cleared up the mystery of deleted photos reappearing on iPhones and iPads, a problem initially attributed to a “database corruption.”
Recently, many iOS users have reported a somewhat unusual problem: Deleted photos, including some compromising ones, have magically reappeared in iPhone and iPad galleries after updating to iOS 17.5. After releasing the iOS 17.5.1 fix update, Apple has finally provided a detailed explanation of the issue, which was initially described as a simple “database corruption.”
The origins of the problem
According to what Apple explained, the cause of the problem lies in a corrupt entry in the file system database of the updated iPhones. This it impacted the files stored directly on the devices and not those synced with iCloud. The resurfaced photos, Apple explains, may have been transferred from older devices while restoring from a backup or during device-to-device transfer. Apple also highlights that what happened did not occur on every device, being in fact a bug that was not too widespread.
Apple has clarified that the company does not have access to users’ photos or videos and that only a small number of people have been affected by this issue. A user on Reddit had previously stated that the bug had caused photos to reappear on a deleted and sold iPadbut Apple has denied this possibility, claiming that data is permanently deleted when a device is successfully reset.
That’s why it happened
Security researchers at Synacktiv analyzed the iOS 17.5.1 update to better understand the issue. They found that iOS 17.5 had introduced a migration routine on iPhones that scanned and re-imported photos from the file system. This routine caused old files to be reindexed, causing them to reappear in users’ photo galleries.
The resurfaced photos were therefore still in the file system, and traces were also found in the migration routine to iOS 17.5 firmware. What remains inexplicable however is how these photos remained in the file system. Among the possibilities, there is the one linked to the Files app: users could actually save the photo both in the gallery and as a file, effectively making it present in the file system even after deleting it from the Gallery.
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