Binary property list
application/octet-stream
Magic Bytes
Offset: 0
62 70 6C 69 73 74
The Binary Property List (plist) is a proprietary data serialization format developed and maintained by Apple Inc. for storing structured data. It is primarily used within macOS, iOS, watchOS, and tvOS ecosystems to store application preferences, user settings, and system configuration information. While inherently safe for local storage, this format succeeded the older OpenStep and XML versions to provide faster parsing speeds and reduced disk footprints for modern hardware.
Validation Code
How to validate .plist files in Python
Python
def is_plist(file_path: str) -> bool:
"""Check if file is a valid PLIST by magic bytes."""
signature = bytes([0x62, 0x70, 0x6C, 0x69, 0x73, 0x74])
with open(file_path, "rb") as f:
return f.read(6) == signatureHow to validate .plist files in Node.js
Node.js
function isPLIST(buffer: Buffer): boolean {
const signature = Buffer.from([0x62, 0x70, 0x6C, 0x69, 0x73, 0x74]);
return buffer.subarray(0, 6).equals(signature);
}
Go
func IsPLIST(data []byte) bool {
signature := []byte{0x62, 0x70, 0x6C, 0x69, 0x73, 0x74}
if len(data) < 6 {
return false
}
return bytes.Equal(data[:6], signature)
}API Endpoint
GET
/api/v1/plist
curl https://filesignature.org/api/v1/plist