Jailbreak loyalists have unquestionably heard about the brand new cicuta_verosa kernel exploit for all devices capable of running iOS & iPadOS 14.3 and below, and for what it’s worth, this is excellent news for the jailbreak community.
Given that most recent jailbreak developments have been either for that of iOS 12 or iOS & iPadOS 13-centric jailbreaks such as Chimera and Odyssey, or for the hardware-limited checkra1n jailbreak that only supports A7-A11 devices up to iOS & iPadOS 14, the announcement of this exploit’s release harbored much-needed positivity in the midst of what could only be described as a lengthy lull for jailbreak hobbyists.
But now that the cicuta_virosa exploit is officially in circulation, what happens next? Well that’s the million-dollar question that we hope to speculate on in this piece.
Looking closely at the exploit’s GitHub write-up by @ModernPwner, it seems apparent that the hacker wishes for CoolStar to utilize the exploit for an upcoming jailbreak, which is an idea CoolStar addressed this past week in the official Sileo / Odyssey / Chimera Discord channel in addition to Twitter.
More specifically, the GitHub page states:
We give permissions to @CStar_OW (CoolStar) to use and modify the exploit for Odyssey – the best jailbreak :).
Just minutes after the news broke of the exploit’s release, CoolStar took to Twitter to validate the exploit, adding that if everything worked out, then we could expect an SSH-only Chimera14 release followed by an Odyssey14 jailbreak with full blown support for libhooker tweak injection and Sileo package management. These are, obviously, proxy names and don’t reflect the true name of CoolStar’s upcoming iOS & iPadOS 14 jailbreak tool. As you might recall, CoolStar referred to the Odyssey jailbreak as Chimera13 before officially naming it Odyssey, and the same naming scheme appears to apply here.
CoolStar reiterated the aforementioned language in the Sileo / Odyssey / Chimera Discord channel a while later, albeit in more detail:
Based on the initial response, it seems that CoolStar has an apparent and imminent interest in working with the new exploit to create a jailbreak. What’s more is that the exploit’s discoverer seems to have singled out CoolStar in the comments calling for jailbreak development.
Notably missing from this acknowledgement was a name many jailbreakers have heard of: unc0ver lead developer Pwn20wnd. The unc0ver jailbreak is getting dusty, especially as it continues to only support up to iOS & iPadOS 13.5, whereas Odyssey recently picked up support for up to iOS & iPadOS 13.7. That said, it remains to be seen if unc0ver will add support for the latest versions of iOS & iPadOS 13, let alone iOS & iPadOS 14.
The cicuta_verosa GitHub page also states:
If you want to use it (cicuta_verosa) in your project under GPL not-compatible license – please DM us to get permissions.
Citing the licensing terms posted for the cicuta_virosa exploit, any jailbreak developer not adhering to the GPL license for their jailbreak tool would need written permission from @ModernPwner to use or modify it. This is a roadblock for the unc0ver jailbreak, which lacks the GPL license, and given that the exploit discoverer didn’t specifically permit Pwn20wnd to use or modify cicuta_virosa as they did for CoolStar, this means that Pwn20wnd would need to ask permission to utilize it for unc0ver, assuming he had any intention of doing so.
Pwn20wnd has been noticeably silent since announcing Substitute v2.0 near the end of last year, and while Substitute v2.0 did get released last month, it remains to be seen if unc0ver will receive any further updates, especially with support for the new exploit. We’ve reached out to Pwn20wnd for comment, but haven’t yet heard back.
Given the circumstances, those looking forward to an iOS & iPadOS 14-supported jailbreak for all devices, including Apple’s latest A14-equipped handsets like the iPhone 12 lineup, are most likely to see the first compatible jailbreak from CoolStar and the ensuing team. This is merely our speculation based on recent events, however, and may or may not be the case.
As always, if you’re using a device on iOS or iPadOS 14.3 or earlier, then you’ll want to stay there and avoid updating your software. Doing so ensures your jailbreak eligibility if or when a tool gets released in the near future.
Are you waiting for an iOS or iPadOS 14 jailbreak for your device? Let us know in the comments section down below.