HNHacker News
TopNewBestAskShowJobs

TakeFlight007

3 karma · joined January 1, 2026

submissionscomments
TakeFlight007··on Show HN: Forensic evidence of iOS mesh networking bypassing Airplane Mode
You are right... and being rigorous is the only path to trust. We can shift the issue from "what is it" to "why isn't it documented and why does status report inactive.

84.5 MB through utun2/IDS during stated isolation—benign or not—contradicts "wireless features turned off" and users have no verification path.

The "closed source" problem you identified is the core issue. So to be rigorous, plausible deniability ends where the telemetry contradicts the UI.

TakeFlight007··on Show HN: Forensic evidence of iOS mesh networking bypassing Airplane Mode
I'm aware of "Find My Device" that's a documented feature. Find My beacons go OUT (your device tells others where it is). This is 84MB coming IN. Different thing.
TakeFlight007··on Show HN: Forensic evidence of iOS mesh networking bypassing Airplane Mode
Not possible due to directionality and volume:

Find My/AirTag: Characteristic low-payload outbound beacons (Egress).

Observed Reality: 84.5 MB Ingress (Received) vs. 1.25 MB Egress.

TakeFlight007··on Show HN: Forensic evidence of iOS mesh networking bypassing Airplane Mode
Mathematically invalidated by the temporal anchor in the artifacts.

The spindump captures a precise 2.00-second window (2025-12-31 13:35:14) where mDNSResponder (PID 10252) is in an active execution state with Priority 31 scheduling. Real-time thread activity and kernel buffer management do not occur for "historical" data.

TakeFlight007··on Show HN: Forensic evidence of iOS mesh networking bypassing Airplane Mode
Good catch! checked sharingd (PID 75) in spindump: <0.001s CPU time while mDNSResponder processed the 84MB. Traffic attribution rules out AirDrop. The 67:1 RX/TX asymmetry and idle sharing daemon confirm this isn't file transfer.