Image: Unc0ver Team
A team of hackers, security researchers, and reverse engineers have released today a new jailbreak package for iOS devices.
By default, Apple does not allow users to have full control over their iPhones and other iOS devices, citing security reasons.
Jailbreaks are a type of custom software that works by exploiting bugs in the iOS operating system in order to grant users root access and full control over their device.
Earlier today, the Unc0ver team released Unc0ver 5.0.0, the latest version of their jailbreaking software, which can root and unlock all iOS devices, even those running the most recent iOS release — iOS v13.5.
This is possible, they said, because Unc0ver 5.0.0 utilizes a zero-day vulnerability in the iOS operating system, a vulnerability that Apple is not aware of.
The zero-day was discovered by one of Unc0ver’s members, a hacker known as Pwn20wnd.
According to Pwn20wnd, today’s release marks the first time in five years that there’s been a jailbreak package that can root a current version of the iOS operating system. The last one was released in late 2014.
#unc0ver v5.0.0 will be the first 0day jailbreak released since iOS 8!
Every other jailbreak released since iOS 9 used 1day exploits that were either patched in the next beta version or the hardware.
This will be a big milestone for jailbreaking.
— Pwn20wnd (@Pwn20wnd) May 23, 2020
Previous jailbreaks usually employed older vulnerabilities and did not work on the current iOS version. Device owners who wanted to jailbreak their smartphones usually had to keep devices out of date in order to do so.
The new Unc0ver 5.0.0 jailbreak can be used from iOS, macOS, Linux, and Windows devices. Usage instructions are available on the Unc0ver jailbreak website.
The Unc0ver team said they tested the jailbreak on iOS 11 through iOS 13.5. The jailbreak did not work on iOS versions 12.3 to 12.3.2 and 12.4.2 to 12.4.5.
Security experts usually advise against jailbreaking an iOS device, as this opens the device to malware and other attacks. However, Pwn20wnd claimed that the new Unc0ver exploit was different from previous exploits because it keeps Apple’s iOS security features intact and running.
Just like in previous instances of jailbreaks that work on the current iOS release, Apple is expected to roll out a security update in the coming days to plug the zero-day exploited by the Unc0ver jailbreak.
