Apple, Cellular Baseband Security Research Intern

In this internship, you will explore new ways to research the security of cellular baseband firmware without depending on complex hardware and RF test setups. You will survey the state of the art in baseband emulation, firmware rehosting and AI-based security research, and assess existing internal tooling to find opportunities for improvement. Building on these findings, you will help design and prototype an emulation-based framework that combines traditional and AI-assisted analysis, with the goal of making vulnerability discovery, triage and fix verification easier and more scalable. You will work closely with experienced security researchers on technically challenging problems at the intersection of wireless systems, firmware and AI. Knowledge of Apple operating systems such as iOS or macOS is a plus, but not required.

Minimum Qualifications

• Familiarity with cellular technologies, 3GPP standards (2G/3G/4G/5G) and baseband architectures
• Solid understanding of low-level systems, including embedded OS internals and ARM architecture, with hands-on experience in C, C++ and Python
• Ability to apply AI techniques and tools, such as LLMs, to security research and software development.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with tools and techniques for firmware emulation, rehosting and instrumentation
• Experience in vulnerability research on wireless protocol stacks, including firmware, host-controller interfaces and over-the-air behavior, and familiarity with relevant vulnerability classes such as parsing, state-machine, downgrade and logic flaws
• Familiarity with binary reverse engineering using tools like IDA and Ghidra, as well as the practical RF and over-the-air toolset, such as software-defined radio (SDR) and other equipment for capturing and injecting wireless signals.