Last week, we reported on how a iOS 10.3.1 exploit Jailbreak Could Arrive, thanks to Adam Donenfield of Zimperium. He recently took to Twitter and announced that some exploits had been discovered for the firmware. And that, this could lead to a jailbreak for the OS coming as soon as August. However, in another twist, respected security researcher, and hacker Luca Todesco, has cast doubt on whether that is indeed possible. Here’s what you need to know.
iOS 10.3.1 Exploit
The Italian hacker Todesco has responded to the widespread talk of a jailbreak on the way. By, taking to Twitter himself. If you’re not sure who he is, Luca is the man behind the recent Yalu jailbreaking solutions. He managed to make use of a number of exploits which ultimately allowed iPhone and iPad users to free themselves from Apple’s shackles.
A kernel exploit alone is not enough to do a jailbreak; however for those with 10.2 blobs saved it will be possible to downgrade
— @[email protected] (@qwertyoruiopz) May 20, 2017
As for this most recent exploit news, the Italian has suggested that it will take much more than one single exploit to create a jailbreak. In fact, he states that somethings multiple exploits are not enough to create a functional and stable jailbreak.
Some Background
As for the promises/comments made by Donenfield, they referred to 8-kernels for which his team had been given the information. Apparently, the exploits resided in what are called “Privilege Escalation Bugs”, many of which it is thought Apple has now fixed. These were probably plugged in the very latest version of iOS, although the same cannot be said for iOS 10.3.1 exploits. As such it is likely that they still exist and present a clear opportunity for developers to create something.
And it is for the older version of iOS, that Donenfield and his colleagues have promised to reveal information at an upcoming conference. However, rightly or wrongly, many in the jailbreaking community took this to mean an iOS 10.3.1 jailbreak is on the way.
iOS 10.3.1 Exploit Or Jailbreak?
Fortunately, the position of Donenfield’s team has now been clarified; we’re not sure if this came about thanks to a push by Todesco. But, at least now the iOS 10.3.1 exploit news is clear. We will not see a working jailbreak solution coming via the team; instead, they will present one or a number of exploits. As for whether they could be used as help towards creating a working jailbreak, who know’s? But at least someone is trying to give developers a head start.
As for Todesco, his sudden involvement in what became a social media storm, with him suggesting the exploit may be good for downgrading. Keeps his head above the parapets enough to make people wonder if he is working on yet another solution himself? Over the weekend he certainly refrained from directly responding to such questions; however, it’s likely he has some irons in the fire.
As and when any new information becomes available either from Donenfield’s team or Luca Todesco about iOS 10.3.1 exploits or related. We will let you know, in the meantime, if you would like to share your thoughts, please do so below.
