iPhone Jailbreaking

On Friday, Apple launched iOS 4.3.4 to patch a vulnerability that allowed hackers to remotely take over iOS devices. Unfortunately, this security risk was also the same PDF exploit used by Comex to release JailbreakMe 3.0 a little over a week ago. Not a big deal if you stuck with iOS 4.3.3, but for those of you who didn't get the memo, there is a savior in the form of a tethered jailbreak. Not as good, but better than nothing.

Redmond Pie released a tutorial on how to jailbreak your iPhone, iPad (sorry doesn't work for the iPad 2) and iPod touch running iOS 4.3.4.

According to the latest research by iPhone Dev-Team Apple has taken steps to make iOS 5 more difficult to jailbreak and downgrade. Although the limera1n exploit used for iOS 4.x jailbreaks still works in beta iOS 5, only a tethered jailbreak is possible at this time. Starting up a jailbroken iPhone tethered requires that the device be connected to a computer while booting.

It's not clear if Apple's move can be countered in the near future, as the company will begin to generate a unique APTicket every time the iPhone is restored. Not only this, but the APTicket will be verified every time the device is turned on.

Luckily for jailbreakers, Apple has yet to fix the exploit used in the latest versions of redsn0w and PwnageTool from the iPhone Dev-Team. This means the software can be used to jailbreak iOS 4.3.3 untethered on all current Apple mobile devices that support the firmware except for the iPad 2. The exploit comes courtesy of developer @i0n1c and marks the first time that three successive firmware updates from Apple have not plugged an existing jailbreak hole.

Geohot’s limera1n bootrom exploit is also used by Dev-Team to inject the jailbreak. The latest version of redsn0w is 0.9.6rc15 and remains the simplest way to jailbreak a supported iOS device using either Mac OS X or a Windows computer. More information along with the install files can be found at the Dev-Team Blog. PwnageTool has also been adapted for iOS 4.3.3 and is currently available for Mac OS X users.

Several new remote unlocking services from websites such as Cut Your Sim and Negri Electronics have appeared in the past few weeks, promising a permanent iPhone unlock without jailbreaking. These services claim the unlock will remain in place regardless of firmware or baseband version forever, with a 100 percent money back guarantee if the unlock fails.

Does this sound too good to be true? Many have already signed up for the services hoping to preserve their Apple warranty, even though the cost is a one-time fee of $170 or more. Negri Electronics has even temporarily discontinued the service due to overwhelming demand while the current list of devices is processed for unlocking. Once the current list of submissions is processed they plan to re-introduce the service.

iPhone Dev-Team is celebrating the third anniversary of their PwnageTool with the release of an untethered jailbreak solution for the latest Apple firmware, iOS 4.3.1. The new version of redsn0w will jailbreak all devices that support iOS 4.3.1 except for the iPad 2. Apple got smart with the iPad 2, and the device can't be compromised by the limera1n or SHAtter exploits used on other devices.

The current jailbreak was made possible by developer Stefan Esser (@i0n1c) who has a long history of researching security on Apple products. Redsn0w is available directly from the iPhone Dev-Team for both Mac OS X and Windows platforms. PwnageTool is also available for Mac OS X and required to jailbreak the second-generation Apple TV.