iOS 9.3.4 Jailbreak For iPhone And iPad: Status

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In what seems like surprising news to many, Apple has just released another iOS update. This time, it is a security patch that takes this version of the OS to iOS 9.3.4. Because many people have asked whether you can jailbreak iOS 9.3.4, we are going to take a look at whether that is possible for iPhone, iPad, and the iPod touch.

PanGu jailbreak

You may or may not know this, but PanGu released a jailbreak for 64-bit iOS devices running iOS 9.2 -9.3.3 a couple of weeks ago, and as that jailbreak came from seemingly nowhere, it caught many by surprise. However, it has since been the recipient of a few updates that have introduced support for English language speakers and a more streamlined process which makes the jailbreak easier to use for the average user. There have also been updates to signing certificates and popular packages such as Cydia and the PP app.

iOS 9.3.4

Coming only two weeks after what was supposed to be the final update of iOS 9.3.3, the appearance of iOS 9.3.4 was sudden and came with a sense of foreboding for jailbreakers. However, it has since been revealed that the firmware update is one that for the most part focuses on providing security patches, and as such, it could fix the vulnerabilities within iOS 9.2-9.3.3 that were circumvented by the PanGu team to create the jailbreak in the first place.

So as it stands at the moment, no jailbreak can be used to get around iOS 9.3.4 and what is often referred to as Apple’s walled garden.

As for what Apple has said about the update, here’s an extract from Apple’s security document for the new release:

IOMobileFrameBuffer

Available for: iPhone 4s and later, iPad 2 and later, iPod touch (5th generation) and later
Impact: An application may be able to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges
Description: A memory corruption issue was addressed through improved memory handling.
CVE-2016-4654: Team Pangu

What should you do?

So with the above in mind, if you care about keeping your iOS device jailbroken, you should avoid updating to iOS 9.3.4 at all costs. If you have yet to jailbreak your 64-bit iOS device, you too should stay away from this firmware update.

A solution

It’s only speculation, but it is highly likely that the Chinese PanGu team is working on something to circumvent this new update as I type this. However, they will first have to assess what has changed and then if there are any vulnerabilities they can work with to create a new jailbreak. As far as how quickly they will release something, recent history has shown us that these things no longer come around quickly, so you may have to show some patience.

The future

With Apple widely expected to be launching iOS 10 at some point next month alongside the iPhone 7, it is entirely probable that the PanGu team or some other group is already be working on a jailbreak solution. If that is the case, it is also likely that we won’t see a jailbreak released for iOS 9.3.4, as it would make sense for them to focus solely on the new platform. In the meantime, if anything changes, my colleagues and me here at Valuewalk will keep you updated.

If you upgraded to iOS 9.3.4, you can still downgrade to iOS 9.3.3 while Apple is signing older firmware. I’ll be writing a how-to article on that next, so check back soon! Also if you haven’t taken advantage of the iOS 9.3.3 jailbreak, you can find a tutorial here.

Do you have an opinion on any of the points made in this article? Please share your views in the comments section below.

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