App developers can make special sideloadable apps that take advantage of the MacDirtyCow bug on iOS 16.0-16.1.2 and iPadOS 15.0-15.7. Apps that exploit this bug can make cosmetic and functional changes to the operating system if it’s within the bounds of memory that a sandboxed app can access.
Follow along as we provide ongoing coverage on the latest MacDirtyCow developments.
The MacDirtyCow bug, also known as CVE-2022-46689, has opened Pandora’s box for Apple on iOS & iPadOS 15.x-16.1.2 because it allows people to make system customizations on their non-jailbroken iPhones and iPads that they technically shouldn’t be allowed to make. It all works by sideloading a special app that exploits this bug.
By now you’ve probably heard about the MacDirtyCow bug for iOS & iPadOS 16.0-16.1.2. Shortly after Google Project Zero security researcher Ian Beer reported CVE-2022-46689 to Apple late last year, security researcher Zhowei Zhang created a rough draft of a bug that developers now actively exploit to make operating system modifications that ordinarily wouldn’t be possible without jailbreaking.
Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max are the company’s only handsets that natively support the Dynamic Island feature, and while a jailbreak tweak dubbed Dynamic Peninsula could bring a similar experience to notched devices, not everyone currently has access to a jailbreak — especially if they’re using iOS 16.
Earlier this week, we shared how palera1n team developer Mineek was working on an all-in-one app for the MacDirtyCow bug on iOS & iPadOS 15.x-16.1.2 that would compress several options into a single sideloadable app. This would make it so users wouldn’t need to install several apps to accomplish the same result.
Developers appear to be finding new and creative ways of exploiting the MacDirtyCow bug to customize non-jailbroken iOS 15.x-16.1.2 devices left and right, and today is no different.
Developers are making great use of the MacDirtyCow bug present on iOS & iPadOS 15.x-16.1.2 devices, which allows sideloaded or perma-signed apps to perform tasks that would typically only be possible with a jailbreak.
The MacDirtyCow bug on iOS & iPadOS 15.x-16.1.2 makes several interesting iPhone & iPad customizations possible without a jailbreak, including changing the system font, modifying the Lock Screen’s Face ID glyph, and disabling the camera app’s shutter sound, among other things.
The MacDirtyCow bug for iOS 15.x-16.1.2 has proven to be a rather interesting one. Without jailbreaking your device, you can exploit this bug to do things such as customize system fonts and change the Lock Screen’s Face ID glyph animation. But it seems like the realm of possibilities doesn’t stop there.
A bug affecting iOS & iPadOS versions 15.x-16.1.2 and macOS 13.0.1 called CVE-2022-46689, also codenamed MacDirtyCow, has been making headlines recently. This bug was discovered by security researcher Ian Beer of Google Project Zero, and while it’s not being used in any jailbreaks, it does appear to be at the epicenter of some interesting hacks for modding iPhones and iPads recently, such as TrollLock Reborn.
Those searching for the next interesting way to customize their iPhone may enjoy the new TrollLock Reborn add-on based on the MacDirtyCow hack by iOS developers @haxi0sm and @dedbeddedbed.