iOS

Grounded bars access to vital Control Center toggles without authentication

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated June 2, 2021

I love how convenient Control Center makes it to toggle my iPhone or iPad’s controls on or off in a pinch, but I’m almost certain that anyone who’d grab my iPhone when I’m not looking might feel exactly the same way. In fact, Control Center makes it far too easy for a thief or mischief-maker to toggle Airplane Mode as a hindrance to handset recovery, and that’s enough to make anyone second-guess the added convenience…

Grounded is a brand new and free jailbreak tweak by iOS developer biD3V that’s designed to prevent such issues from living rent-free in your head. The tweak works by allowing users to make certain Control Center toggles unusable as long as your iPhone or iPad is locked, but they become usable the moment you authenticate yourself.

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ZecOps & FreeTheSandbox release tfp0 exploit for iOS 13.5.1-13.7

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated February 3, 2021

As promised, following security researcher 08Tcw3BB’s much anticipated presentation at HITB CyberWeek 2020, affiliated software security firm ZecOps has officially released an exploit for iOS & iPadOS 13.5.1-13.7.

The announcement, shared this Thursday afternoon via the ZecOps Twitter account, links to a blog post on the firm’s own website that discusses the exploit, how it works via a proof of concept, and how an attacker could use it:

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iOS 13.5.1-13.7 exploit to be discussed by 08Tcw3BB at HITB CyberWeek 2020

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 17, 2020

Those paying close attention to the jailbreak community as of late would already know that there’ve been a number of recent developments that could eventually spell out the jailbreakability of iOS 13.5.1-13.7. If you missed the news, FreeTheSandbox is working on a public jailbreak supporting these firmware versions while security researcher @08Tc3wBB plans to release a dedicated exploit for use by the jailbreak community.

Neither of the aforementioned things have happened yet, but for those trying to keep tabs on everything as it happens, it might be worth mentioning that @08Tc3wBB plans to discuss his iOS 13.5.1-13.7 exploit on November 19th via HITB CyberWeek in a talk entitled “Jailbreaks Never Die: Exploiting iOS 13.7.”

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Kernel bug for iOS 14.1 and below raises hopes for exploit, and perhaps jailbreak

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 6, 2020
Matrix code hacked iPhone.

Apple unleashed iOS & iPadOS 14.2 to the masses yesterday afternoon, and while most iPhone and iPad owners gleefully updated to take advantage of more than 100 new Emojis and six new wallpapers, the updates also appeared to beef up their respective platforms’ security.

Security improvements are generally a good thing for users; however, they can be red flags for proponents of the jailbreak community since software exploits are the very things that make jailbreak tools possible. With that in mind, it may come as no surprise that jailbreak developers repetitiously remind the community to stay in the lowest possible firmware, as this can increase one’s chances of jailbreak eligibility.

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A14 Bionic already pwned by talented hacker iBSparkes

Anthony Bouchard ∙ October 23, 2020

Last September, talented hacker and security researcher iBSparkes made headlines after becoming one of the first to crack the A13-equipped iPhone 11 Pro lineup with a working tfp0 exploit.

Just this afternoon, however, the jailbreak community was touched with an ounce of déjà vu after iBSparkes Tweeted a teaser of what appeared to be successful pwnage of Apple’s shiny new A14-equipped iPhone 12 lineup.

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Prank those who try to guess your iPhone’s passcode with ToldYou

Anthony Bouchard ∙ October 14, 2020

Whether you have an iPhone or another smartphone of a different make and model, one thing we all probably have in common is that someone has attempted to guess our handset’s passcode when we weren’t looking.

The horrible and sad truth is: nosy people exist; but the good news is that anyone with a jailbroken iPhone can now use a newly released and free jailbreak tweak called ToldYou by iOS developer Huseyin Kabasakal to strike back at these nosy people in a somewhat humorous way.

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Hacker @08Tc3wBB to discuss iOS 13.7 exploit at Black Hat Europe 2020

Anthony Bouchard ∙ October 8, 2020

There’s a lot going on in the jailbreak community as of right now. Not only is the checkra1n team actively attempting to jailbreak iOS & iPadOS 14 on many more devices, but hacker and security researcher @08Tc3wBB may also soon share details about an exploit viable for jailbreaking iOS & iPadOS 13.7 (the last versions of Apple’s previous-generation mobile operating systems).

If you find yourself more interested in the latter tidbit, which is likely the case if you stayed on the lowest possible firmware after iOS & iPadOS 14 got released, then you might be ecstatic to learn that @08Tc3wBB will present his latest research with security group ZecOps at the Black Hat Europe 2020 event.

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Luca Todesco teases full exploit and PAC bypass for iOS 14.0.1

Anthony Bouchard ∙ October 5, 2020

The only iOS & iPadOS 14 devices that can be publicly jailbroken at the time of this writing are those sporting A9 and A9X processors, and while that could change in the very near future as the checkra1n team works on adding A10 and A10X support, the bigger question involves the likes of much newer devices that aren’t even susceptible to the checkm8 bootrom exploit.

Fortunately, renowned hacker and checkra1n team member Luca Todesco shared a particularly interesting announcement via Twitter Monday afternoon in the form of what appears to be a working exploit and PAC bypass for iOS & iPadOS 14 devices:

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ABC Research may release an iOS 14 exploit, but only if Apple patches it first

Anthony Bouchard ∙ October 5, 2020
Matrix code hacked iPhone.

There’s a certain stigma surrounding jailbreaking and iOS & iPadOS 14 right about now, and all of it stems from the fact that Apple made its latest and greatest mobile operating systems a lot tougher to crack. But tougher doesn’t mean impossible, and that’s a fact, Jack.

With that in mind, it seemed appropriate to follow up with our optimistic attitude following Brandon Azad’s eye-tearing departure from Project Zero with a bit of good news: software security research group ABC Research appears willing to release an iOS & iPadOS 14-compatible exploit to the general public, assuming certain criteria are met…

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Security researcher Brandon Azad leaves Project Zero to join Apple

Anthony Bouchard ∙ October 2, 2020
Matrix code hacked iPhone.

The jailbreak community lost a valuable asset on Friday as renowned hacker and security researcher Brandon Azad, known for his involvement with Project Zero and for his work in discovering tfp0 exploits for iOS and iPadOS alike, was hired by Apple.

Azad made the shocking announcement Monday afternoon via Twitter, noting that the bittersweet transition to Apple’s side of the security research fence would begin as soon as next week:

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Hacker 08Tc3wBB plans to share iOS 13.7 exploit with Pwn20wnd

Anthony Bouchard ∙ September 26, 2020
Matrix code hacked iPhone.

Just last month, hacker and iOS security researcher @08Tc3wBB teased a new exploit that would potentially be viable on iOS and iPadOS 13.6.1. One month later, A.K.A. just two weeks ago, @08Tc3wBB made it known that iOS and iPadOS 13.7 were both vulnerable to this very same exploit. Now, it seems we have confirmation that the exploit would be released for the benefit of the jailbreak community.

In a post shared to /r/jailbreak late last night, @FCE365 (also known as GeoSn0w) appears to question @08Tc3wBB in a direct message about their plans to release the exploit. While we’ve known for some time that @08Tc3wBB planned to release the exploit to the general public at some point, the message reveals the first ever confirmation that it would be shared directly with unc0ver jailbreak lead developer Pwn20wnd:

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