Just yesterday, Apple was compelled to temporarily disable its FaceTime service after a critical bug was discovered that enabled a malicious individual to ‘spy’ on someone else via the recipient’s microphone and camera. Apple later mentioned that they would implement a fix via a software update later this week.
The circumstances present obvious implications for the jailbreak community, as installing a software update would reduce your jailbreakability to practically zilch. That said, if you’re waiting for an iOS 12 jailbreak to drop and don’t have the means to install Apple’s upcoming firmware update, then you’re undoubtedly questioning what the best course of action is.
Fortunately, we have the answer. If you’re waiting for an iOS 12 jailbreak, then STAY on your current firmware. Hacker and unc0ver lead developer Pwn20wnd shared this wise advice via Twitter on Tuesday and elucidated his reasoning:
As it would seem, the FaceTime bug can be easily patched with a Cydia Substrate extension, which means a jailbreak tweak developer could resolve the privacy problem for anyone that would be sporting a jailbroken iOS 12 handset in the future.
S0rryMyBad’s iOS 12-centric kernel exploit supports iOS 12.0-12.1.2, and both iOS 12.1.1 and 12.1.2 are still being signed by Apple at the time of this writing (you should confirm that here before attempting a downgrade). With that in mind, anyone that is hoping to jailbreak iOS 12 anytime soon is advised to downgrade to either iOS 12.1.1 or 12.1.2 and stay where they are.
Those using iOS 12.0-12.1 should stay where they are, as the best practice for jailbreaking is to stay on the lowest possible firmware. Likewise, those on iOS 11.4-11.4.1 are advised to stay where they are. Saving your SHSH blobs is also advised.
If you’re happily jailbroken on iOS 11 already, then you should stay where you are. It’s not worth losing a fully-functional jailbreak for the potential of an iOS 12 jailbreak that may or may not materialize.
In conclusion, potential jailbreakers needn’t be afraid of this FaceTime bug, as a developer could make a jailbreak tweak to patch it. If you’re waiting for an iOS 12 jailbreak, don’t update your firmware; you can temporarily disable FaceTime manually from the Settings app to stay protected until a jailbreak becomes available for your particular iteration of iOS 12.