# felix-pb/kfd

kfd, short for kernel file descriptor, is a project to read and write kernel memory on Apple devices.

Repository: https://github.com/felix-pb/kfd
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/kfd
Language: C
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2024-01-21T04:28:55+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 28/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 35, longevity 81
- inputs: {"age_days": 1139, "days_push": 955, "days_rel": null, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 0}
- flags: no_releases
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1012, forks 184 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:13.410658+00:00)

## What it is
kfd is a C library that provides kernel memory read/write on Apple devices by exploiting physical use-after-free (PUAF) vulnerabilities to obtain dangling PTEs. It exposes a small API (kopen/kread/kwrite/kclose) and includes simple executable wrappers for iOS and macOS.

## Use cases
- read and write kernel memory on iOS devices
- obtain kernel read/write primitive on macOS
- research physical use-after-free vulnerabilities in XNU kernel
- build jailbreak or security research tooling for Apple platforms
- exploit CVE-2023-23536, CVE-2023-32434, or CVE-2023-41974 in controlled research

## When to choose
- you need a kernel read/write primitive on supported iOS/macOS versions for security research
- you want a small, library-contained exploit API rather than a full jailbreak
- you are studying PUAF exploitation techniques on Apple silicon

## When to avoid
- you need offsets for devices or iOS versions beyond what the author supports
- you want a maintained tool for current iOS/macOS releases (vulnerabilities are patched)
- you need a general-purpose jailbreak with package management and tweaks
- you require production-safe software - kernel panics are possible

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: maintenance
- function: security, cryptography
- domain: security, apple-ecosystem, operating-systems
- platform: c
- tags: kernel-exploitation, kernel-memory-read-write, puaf, jailbreak, vulnerability-research, libkfd, ios, macos

## Member repositories
- felix-pb/kfd (main) score 28

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:13.410658+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T07:11:45.130138+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/felix-pb/kfd (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:13.410658+00:00, sha 7f9077e9745a)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.