With Apple dropping software updates for its iPhones and iPads as frequently as they do nowadays, it’s particularly exciting when a hacker claims that they’ve pwned one of the company’s latest versions of iOS and/or iPadOS.
The most recent announcement to shake things up came by way of hacker @08Tc3wBB last month in the form of a new exploit for iOS 13.6.1 that allegedly used a different method to achieve its ends than the more traditional tfp0 method that we see in modern jailbreaks like Odyssey and unc0ver. On Monday, the same hacker appeared to validate that the newer iOS 13.7 would be vulnerable to jailbreak-centric exploitation:
The comment “13.7 is ok” leaves a lot of wiggle room for interpretation. But the hashtag “#jailbreak” used in this context, combined with @08Tc3wBB’s current reputation, represent a compelling case to suggest that the hacker’s recent exploit may be compatible with Apple’s current firmware.
Today’s comment aside, @08Tc3wBB said in the last teaser that the novel exploit would be released “when appropriate.” This is far from precise in terms of when the exploit could reach public hands, and it remains to be seen it a jailbreak would be created from it if it were to be released. Given that it’s an iOS 13-centric exploit, it’s more likely that the Odyssey and unc0ver jailbreaks would add support as opposed to an entirely new jailbreak being created around it.
Both the Odyssey and unc0ver jailbreaks currently support up to iOS 13.5. For what it’s worth, the checkra1n jailbreak is already capable of jailbreaking iOS 13.6.1 and iOS 13.7 because it uses a hardware-based bootrom exploit dubbed checkm8 that can’t be patched by Apple on older devices ranging from the iPhone 5s to the iPhone X. The latest exploit is software-based, which means that it isn’t device-dependent, but could be patched with a software update from Apple.
It will indeed be interesting to see what @08Tc3wBB’s work brings to the table for the jailbreak community. It would definitely be awesome to have a jailbreak for iOS 13.6-13.7 on Apple’s latest handsets, especially given the fact that Apple just recently stopped signing iOS 13.6.1, compelling many who accidentally updated to be stuck with a non-jailbroken installation of iOS 13.7.
As of now, it’s recommended that aspiring jailbreakers remain on the lowest possible firmware. This has long been the advise of the wise who work on our beloved jailbreaks, as older firmware versions are easier to hack than newer ones. Those already jailbroken, on the other hand, should of course stay where they are instead of taking a leap of faith to new firmware.
Are you excited to see if anything exciting comes out of the recent exploit news? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.