Posted on May 24, 2020 at 7:23 PM
Newly Released Jailbreak Exploit can Unlock Recent iOS Devices
A report today revealed that a well-known hacking group has released a new jailbreak tool that enables the hacking team to unlock all types of iOS devices. The group is made up of a team of reverse engineers, security researchers, and hackers.
A jailbreak is a type of conventional software that functions by utilizing bugs in the iOS operating system to give users access to take full control over their device.
Earlier in the day, the group known as the Unc0ver team released the Unc0ver 5.0.0 version of the software. The new software is capable of rooting and unlocking all types of iOS devices, including iOS v13.5 – the latest iOS release.
Apple has always kept its guard up against the personal customization of its phones even by users. Naturally, Apple doesn’t allow users to have complete control over their iOS and iPhone devices, citing security reasons.
As a result, some hackers have taken interest in breaking themselves free from that guard, which has been termed, “jailbreaking.”
They always try to put off the guards, saying it allows them to customize their phones in a way many users are not familiar with. As a result, the excitement of freely accessing and customizing every aspect of their phones and installed software has always been the motive for the jailbreakers.
The hack was possible due to zero-day vulnerability
The hack was possible because of a zero-day vulnerability which Apple was unaware of. Hackers enter the jailbreaking mode by looking for a previously unknown vulnerability in iOS. They take advantage of the vulnerability to override the Apple security denying them access to certain software.
With this new release of unc0ver, it is now the only zero-day jailbreak released since iOS 8. Other jailbreaks released after iO8 utilized one 1day exploit which was either patched in the hardware or the beta version. As a result, it represents a big landmark for jailbreaking.
Other jailbreakers usually make use of traditional vulnerabilities and have not worked on the present iOS version. For most device owners looking to jailbreak their smartphones, the most obvious way to do that is to keep the smartphone out of date to make things easier for them.
But this new jailbreak system is capable of jailbreaking smartphones even when they are not out of date yet, making it a more effective jailbreaking system.
There are multiple types of smartphones and devices this new Unc0ver jailbreak system can be effective. It can be used on Windows devices, Linux, macOS, and iOS devices. The website of the Unc0ver jailbreak already has usage instructions for the users.
The team responsible for setting up the Unc0ver 5.0 jailbreak said it worked on most types of iOS versions from iOS 11 to iOS 13.5. However, it did not work on the 12.45, 12.42, 12.32, and 12.3 versions.
Unc0ver is unlike other jailbreak software
Security experts are always against the idea of jailbreaking iOS devices because the singular act can expose the device to cyber and malware attacks. But Pwn20wnd is backing this jailbreaking software. The firm said Unc0ver is not like other previous jailbreak exploits because it keeps the security features of Apple iOS intact and running.
As Apple has always done for other jailbreaks that are effective on current iOS releases, the tech giant will also provide patches to this one. Apple hopes to release patches in the coming days to delete the zero-day vulnerability the Unc0ver jailbreak exploited.
Hackers taking advantage of Apple’s poor security
This jailbreak is coming when Apple’s usually strong security image is gradually declining. Last week, a broker for exploits Zerodium said it will stop buying some iPhone vulnerabilities because there were so many of them.
Some hackers were able to obtain the pre-release version of the impending iOS 14 release. What’s more intriguing is the fact that the hackers got this version several months ago, according to Motherboard security outfit.
