Opening a €500 Lock with a Tie Wrap

This concerns the Schlage CO-100, a lock costing around €500 that has been sold MILLIONS of times worldwide.

The hack was developed by Dominic Villeneuve.

After cutting four small notches in the zip tie, the lock can be opened with a simple tug.

Last Friday, around 12:05 (EST), the video was posted and this hack was made public for the first time.

What he did was serrate the edge of a tie wrap like the leg of a cricket.

When inserted through the drain hole in the lock’s housing, the flexibility and smoothness of the tie rib allows access to the locking mechanism. Once there, a bit of play and pulling force ensures it catches and unlocks the lock.

The beauty is that a cheap cable tie is the best tool for this job. We have tried other materials and custom pieces, and in all cases, a simple tie wrap was the winner. This is the Schlage CO-100 series, and it will only be a matter of time before the lock picking community finds all possible ways to bypass this lock’s vulnerability.

Dominic informed Allegion (the parent company of Schlage) about the leak months ago, and they modified this lock back in 2021 to prevent the bypass. However, the vulnerability has been kept secret until now. Allegion claims they issued a bulletin, but it is certainly not very public.

As the stylish hacker he is, Dominic not only found the leak… No, he also developed the solution for the problem.

It’s called the Tie Breaker. A simple metal pin that can be inserted into the drain hole of the lock. If you’re interested in this product, let me know. We can easily arrange it for you through Sparrows!

Find the drain hole at the bottom of the housing and place the CO-Fix in this position.

The Co-Fix must be fully inserted into the hole and should not be visible anymore.

Use a pen (or another sharp object) and push the CO-Fix further until you hear a click.

Push the CO-Fix in as far as possible with your fingers.

A bit of history about Allegion, one of their brands is Kryptonite.

You may remember that this bike lock was defeated in 2004 with a Bic pen or toilet roll…

This is certainly not the information you want to see as a lock manufacturer. Especially not if you own the lock in question…

We share this information only because we do not want you to rely on the vulnerability of these locks out of ignorance.

Thieves know much more about locks through their dishonest work than could ever be learned. They already knew a lot about lockpicking before this was discussed by locksmiths.

If a lock is not as invulnerable as it is supposed to be, it is important that an honest person knows about it first. An dishonest person will be the first to try to put the knowledge about the lock’s vulnerability into practice. The dissemination of this knowledge is necessary to inform those who trust these locks out of ignorance. It cannot be stated clearly enough that acquiring real facts is ultimately better for everyone. – The construction of locks (1853), Alfred Charles Hobbs.