Software

Powerful sandbox escape PoC for iOS 12.0-12.0.1 released

Anthony Bouchard ∙ December 4, 2018

While there’s no official confirmation of any individual or team of people working on a public iOS 12 jailbreak, it seems that we could be one step closer as of Tuesday.

Citing a post published on /r/jailbreak, it appears that a powerful sandbox escape proof of concept for iOS 12.0-12.0.1 has been released, fueling speculation that a public jailbreak tool could be crafted in the future with support for Apple’s latest and greatest mobile operating system. Notably, the exploit is patched in iOS 12.1.

Pwn20wnd pushes unc0ver v2.0.1 to the public, no longer considered a ‘pre-release’

Anthony Bouchard ∙ December 3, 2018

iOS hacker Pwn20wnd published the first unc0ver v2.0.0 pre-release on Friday, and there’ve been at least three separate updates to it since that time. But now that most of the bugs appear to be ironed out, the hacker has moved forward with an official public release.

On Monday, Pwn20wnd announced the public debut of unc0ver v2.0.1 via Twitter. Unlike the v2.0.0 pre-release, this version is officially out of beta testing and should be stable enough for the general public to deploy on compatible devices running iOS 11.0-11.4 beta 3:

Another revision to the unc0ver v2.0.0 pre-release brings additional bug fixes

Anthony Bouchard ∙ December 1, 2018

Just a few days ago, iOS hacker Pwn20wnd launched a pre-release version of unc0ver v2.0.0 to the public with preliminary support for Cydia Substrate, several useful new features, and a blanket of bug fixes and performance improvements. The next day, he pushed a revamped version of the pre-release to the public with more bug fixes; but it now seems he wasn’t finished yet.

On Saturday, Pwn20wnd announced via Twitter that he had dropped yet another new version of the unc0ver v2.0.0 pre-release with even more bug fixes:

Pwn20wnd launches revised unc0ver v2.0.0 pre-release with more bug fixes

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 30, 2018

Just yesterday, iOS hacker Pwn20wnd dropped a pre-release version of unc0ver v2.0.0 with preliminary support for Cydia Substrate, a bevy of new features, and a long list of bug fixes and improvements. But he also noted that he would update the pre-release again if bugs were reported.

Pwn20wnd made good on his promise Friday afternoon after he shared an updated version of the unc0ver v2.0.0 pre-release via his Twitter account. As suspected, the new pre-release fixes bugs that were reported in the initial pre-release during the last 24 hours:

Pwn20wnd releases unc0ver v2.0.0 public beta w/ support for Cydia Substrate, bug fixes, and more

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 29, 2018

It’s been a little while since we’ve seen any updates for the unc0ver jailbreak tool; the latest update to be released was version 1.1.4, more than three weeks ago. But despite what appeared to be a sudden halt in rapid update releases, it appears that iOS hacker Pwn20wnd has indeed been hard at work on another update for the iOS 11-centric jailbreak tool.

The public beta of unc0ver v2.0.0 has announced by Pwn20wnd via his Twitter account on Thursday, signaling what some might consider to be a major update for the jailbreak and many of its internal mechanisms:

Apple stops signing iOS 12.0.1, hindering downgrades from iOS 12.1

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 27, 2018

Apple stopped signing iOS 12.0.1 on Tuesday, a move that prevents all iPhone and iPad users from downgrading their firmware via iTunes to any version lower than iOS 12.1.

It’s been almost one full month since Apple publicly released iOS 12.1, signaling one of the Cupertino-based company’s longest firmware signing windows in recent memory; most windows only last for about two weeks.

Hackers demonstrate 0-day exploit on iOS 12.1 at recent Tokyo-based Pwn2Own contest

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 21, 2018

Despite the absurd amounts of time and money that Apple pours into security efforts to make iOS one of the most secure mobile operating systems available today, it seems that even iOS 12.1, the latest publicly-available firmware version on the iPhone and iPad, isn’t entirely hack-proof.

At the recent Pwn2Own contest in Tokyo, Richard Zhu and Amat Cama, a duo of white hat hackers, reportedly harnessed the power of a powerful Safari-based 0-day exploit to recover a photograph that was recently deleted from an iPhone X’s native Photos app.

Possible JailbreakMe-style jailbreak for iOS 4.0-12.0.1 in the works

Anthony Bouchard ∙ Updated November 12, 2018

If you remember the good old days when you could visit a web page in mobile Safari and swipe your finger over a virtual slider to achieve a jailbreak (yes, I’m pointing at you JailbreakMe), then we’ve got some good news for you.

iOS hacker and developer Sem Voigtländer (@UKERN Software) appears to be working on a JailbreakMe-styled tool that you can visit in mobile Safari that theoretically supports iOS firmware versions from 4.0 to 12.0.1 (*with some exceptions*).

KeenLab teases jailbroken iPhone XS Max on iOS 12.1

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 6, 2018

Every time Apple releases a major new software update for its iOS device lineup, it seems like the talented security researchers over at KeenLab are the first to jailbreak it.

KeenLab was the first to demonstrate a proof-of-concept jailbreak on iOS 12.0 in June and iOS 11.3.1 in April, but now it seems the security firm has found a backdoor into Apple’s iOS 12.1 update, which was only released last week.

Pwn20wnd releases two new updates to the unc0ver jailbreak tool with bug fixes

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 6, 2018

iOS hacker Pwn20wnd released two new updates to the unc0ver jailbreak tool for iOS 11.0-11.4 beta 3 on Tuesday that encompass some rather important bug fixes and improvements.

Pwn20wnd announced the updates by way of his Twitter account earlier this afternoon, noting how they should remedy a couple of known errors during the jailbreak process.

Pwn20wnd releases unc0ver V1.1.2 to improve exploit success rates

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 4, 2018

Pwn20wnd’s unc0ver jailbreak tool for iOS 11.0-11.4 beta 3 received a notable update on Sunday with improved success rates for both the Empty_List (VFS) and Multi_Path (MPTCP) exploits that it utilizes to pwn Apple handsets.

Pwn20wnd announced the updated version of unc0ver via his Twitter account, which came just hours after unc0ver V1.1.1:

Pwn20wnd releases unc0ver V1.1.1 with more bug fixes and improvements

Anthony Bouchard ∙ November 3, 2018

Over the weekend, iOS hacker Pwn20wnd released an update to the unc0ver jailbreak tool for iOS 11.0-11.4 beta 3; the latest release brings it up to version 1.1.1.

Pwn20wnd announced the update via his personal Twitter account, denoting how unc0ver V1.1.1 encompasses more bug fixes and improvements for streamlining the tool: