Issue with residual root certificate on iPhone 14 Pro Max (iOS 18.3.1)

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Level 1

10 points

Issue with residual root certificate on iPhone 14 Pro Max (iOS 18.3.1)

Hello everyone! I encountered an issue. Previously, I installed root certificates on my iPhone 14 Pro Max (iOS 18.3.1) to access VPN services. Installed certificates appeared in [1] Settings -> General -> VPN & Device Management {CONFIGURATION PROFILE}. Also, it's possible to enable full trust for third-party installed root certificates through [2] Settings -> About -> Certificate Trust Settings -> ENABLE FULL TRUST FOR ROOT CERTIFICATES (select the required one).

Currently, I've deleted all CONFIGURATION PROFILE entries, but one certificate still appears in section [2]. Could you please advise why this might be happening and how I can resolve this? I'm concerned.

iPhone 14 Pro Max, iOS 18

Posted on Mar 13, 2025 3:42 AM

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Answer 1

aleksei181 Author

Level 1

10 points

Mar 13, 2025 8:46 PM in response to MrHoffman

Performing a complete reset with erasing and setting up my iPhone from scratch resolved the issue. I didn't try the option of resetting and restoring from a backup. Thank you very much for your advice! 🙌

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Answer 2

MrHoffman

Level 10

146,497 points

Mar 13, 2025 11:25 AM in response to aleksei181

I’d probably perform a reset and reload and not restore, and rotate all passwords.

On your way to that, remove all VPN apps, and check again.

Complete security compromises are never very fun to clean up, unfortunately.

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Answer 3

Jeff Donald

Level 8

45,084 points

Mar 13, 2025 11:30 AM in response to aleksei181

I had the same issue and it carried over in all the restores and updates to new iPhones even. At the time I called a friend, a Lead Genius at an Apple Retail Store and he said I had to do a DFU restore and don’t restore the backup from iCloud. I don’t know if this is still the case or not.

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Answer 4

aleksei181 Author

Level 1

10 points

Mar 13, 2025 4:49 PM in response to MrHoffman

Thank you for your recommendations. I've double-checked and removed all possible VPN applications. I also performed a reset of all settings without erasing data. Unfortunately, this did not solve the issue. Perhaps you might know, is there any other method to check which root certification authorities are currently installed? It's very disappointing that a full device reset without restore seems to be the only remaining option.

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Answer 5

MrHoffman

Level 10

146,497 points

Mar 13, 2025 4:52 PM in response to aleksei181

Side-loading apps and trusting added certs can have issues yes, including network connection compromises.

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Issue with residual root certificate on iPhone 14 Pro Max (iOS 18.3.1)

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