Every timeApplereleases a major new software update for itsiOSdevice lineup, it seems like the talented security researchers over atKeenLabare the first to jailbreak it.
KeenLab was thefirst to demonstrate a proof-of-concept jailbreak on iOS 12.0in Juneand iOS 11.3.1 in April, but now it seems the security firm has found a backdoor into Apple’siOS 12.1update, whichwas only released last week.
KeenLab security researcher Liang Chen firstshared the news via his Twitter account Tuesday afternoon, teasing an image of a brand-new A12-powerediPhone XS Maxwith iOS 12.1 installed on it that had been pwned with proprietaryexploits.
From the image, we can discern that the iPhone XS Max is running an in-housejailbreakapp created by the KeenLab security researchers. It hasn’t been released to the public and given KeenLab’s reputation for previous proof-of-concept jailbreaks, it probably never will be.
Not much is known about the jailbreak at this time, such as whether it’s untethered,semi-untethered, or tethered, but what we do know that this is the first-known jailbreak to be validated on iOS 12.1. Citing Chen’s Tweet, KeenLab is poised to present details about its jailbreak at the upcoming POC 2018 event this Friday.
Notably, a post on/r/jailbreaksurfaced just one day agooffered $10,000 for an iOS 12.1 jailbreak within the next 48 hours. It seems unlikely that KeenLab will sell its jailbreak to this particular buyer, as tech companies often pay significantly higher for exploits relevant to their systems. Still, the timing is rather uncanny.
While it’s true that this jailbreak will probably never see the light, it’s always great news because it confirms that even Apple’s latest and greatest mobile operating system can be jailbroken despite all the patched exploits andsecurityimprovements Apple implemented in recent memory.
Are you excited about the future of jailbreaking? Share why or why not in the comments section below.
