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iPhone, iPod Touch 1.1.1 Firmwares Jailbroken

vertigoCiel writes "Hackers Niacin and Dre have recently gained full read and write access to the filesystems of both the iPhone and the iPod Touch. The Jailbreak exploits a vulnerability in Safari's TIFF library to execute the necessary code when the specially crafted image is loaded. Access can then be permanently sustained by modifying the fstab file with iPhuc"

14 of 347 comments (clear)

  1. Soubds like alot of work by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Wouldn't it be easier to buy an phone/mp3 player that isn't crippled?

  2. Re:Great by ichigo+2.0 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Don't patch until there is a working hack for the new patch. And yes, a new hack will always surface.

  3. Re:Makes me wonder by Aladrin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What 'hint'? They are under legal obligation to maintain their firmware so that the phones can't be used on other networks for another 5 years. They are also under obligation to their customers to provide firmware for their phone that is as bug-free as possible. If the user can hack it, a malicious attacker can, too.

    So are you saying that they shouldn't patch the vulnerabilities, that they shouldn't release new firmware at all, or that they should break their contract with AT&T which could make every iPhone out there useless overnight unless it is hacked?

    --
    "If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
  4. Re:Makes me wonder by Threni · · Score: 5, Insightful

    > They are under legal obligation to maintain their firmware so that the phones can't be used on other networks for another 5 years.

    In some countries the exact opposite is true!

  5. Re:Makes me wonder by Reality+Master+101 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    But they're not under any obligation to prevent third party applications. That's just greed. They want to eventually sell only licensed third party apps.

    --
    Sometimes it's best to just let stupid people be stupid.
  6. Re:Makes me wonder by Rob+T+Firefly · · Score: 5, Funny

    What 'hint'? They are under legal obligation to maintain their firmware so that the phones can't be used on other networks for another 5 years. I could sign a specially-worded contract putting me under legal obligation to learn how to breathe margarine and turn the moon into a Buick, but it doesn't mean I'll be able to in practice.
  7. Re:Makes me wonder by Aladrin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't know what their contract says with AT&T, but that might very well be on there. Something to the tune of 'only tested and approved applications'.

    But even assuming it's not a contractual obligation, Apple announced they weren't going to allow third-party apps weeks before the first iPhone was sold. It wasn't a surprise and anyone who bought it with the intent of hacking it and putting their own apps on it did so at their own risk.

    I've bought devices, used 'hacks' on them, and did other things with them. But I did so with each of them with the complete understanding of how much money I could lose if anything happened that I couldn't control. In fact, while I was soldering one, my father was in the other room saying comforting things like 'That's a $300 mistake.' Turns out, he was almost right on that one... I barely managed to fix it.

    Anyone complaining about Apple updating their firmware has rocks in their head. It's what they do, it's what they said they'll do, and nobody ought to be surprised that they'll do it.

    If you want an open phone, there are several on the market or very close to market that will work MUCH better and the companies will support you in creating the apps. There's no need to hack the iPhone and Apple has cheated no one.

    --
    "If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
  8. Re:Makes me wonder by MrHanky · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The terms of the contract, according to the Mac community, is that whenever there is something annoying with the phone -- bricking, restricted access of all sorts -- it's AT&T's fault. This also goes for the ipod touch, which features the exact same restrictions.

  9. Re:Makes me wonder by Gilmoure · · Score: 5, Funny

    iPhone is really pretty?

    --
    I drank what? -- Socrates
  10. Re:Makes me wonder by ZachPruckowski · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I've bought devices, used 'hacks' on them, and did other things with them. But I did so with each of them with the complete understanding of how much money I could lose if anything happened that I couldn't control.

    Anyone complaining about Apple updating their firmware has rocks in their head. It's what they do, it's what they said they'll do, and nobody ought to be surprised that they'll do it.

    All true. Expecting Apple to support hacked models with new firmware is a bit silly. The iPhone updater completely re-flashes the iPod, and then re-adds the data from iTunes. So any update will at least wipe Apps, unless Apple does special work to preserve them.

    But just as importantly, there's nothing saying you "have to" update the firmware. It's voluntary. Sure, you've got to if you want the bugfixes and new features, but that's hardly mandatory. Users can continue to use the 1.0.2 firmware for as long as they want to, or until there's some sort of iPhone virus out there.
  11. For Example: Soviet Union and South Korea by Johnny+Mozzarella · · Score: 5, Funny

    In the Soviet Union the firmware is under legal obligation to maintain you for 5 years.

    In South Korea only old people maintain their firmware.

  12. Re:TIFF image exploit? by Durzel · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well you're almost right.

    If it's an image handling vulnerability in IE then the skies are falling and it's featured on the front page of Slashdot.

    If the same vulnerability appears in Firefox then it's trivial and automatically "nothing to worry about" simply because it's OSS.

    If it's a vulnerability in iPhone then Apple intended it to be there in the first place and it's the users who are mistaken in thinking it was a problem.

  13. Re:Makes me wonder by Inanition85 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Thing is, most anytime you buy a cell phone, you're buying both the hardware and the network, not one or the other. It's just like the verizon commercials where the "network" (crowd of people) follows around those who just bought their phones, you don't get one without the other. While this may seem to be "unfair" or "unethical", remember that in a free market economy, any time someone sees a market they can go into and make a profit, they will. In this case, the major manufacturers of phones and major carriers have seen a market that they can make a profit on in a certain way and are doing so.

    Another thing, this really isn't so different from what most hardware manufacturers do. If you buy most video cards or processors/mobos (certain high end/hardcore gamer models excepted, of course), the licensing and warrantees say that if you attempt to modify the hardware or use it beyond its specs (i.e. overclocking either in hardware or with hacked drivers), the warrantee is void. And in further comparison, are not certain pieces of hardware locked to certain OSs or manufacturers? (I'm thinking the reversed PCI cards and mobos on Gateway PCs of a few years back, or the fact that most Compaq and HP pcs of the past have had entirely proprietary hardware that cannot be replaced with standard components.) Even Apple themselves (until recently) would not support or even officially allow Windows to run on their PCs (and they still do not allow their OS to run on IBM-compatible PCs, anything not made by Apple won't run it). How is this that different from the iPhone?

    Nothing I've seen in the PC or cell phone markets should lead me to believe that what Apple is doing with the iPhone is any different that what every other company does with their products (including the price cut). What a shock, Apple is a company just like everyone else! So maybe the iPhone has some amzaing capabilities and we'd like it to be unlocked so we can exploit these as we'd like, but Apple makes the device, and can sell it as they see fit. If you don't like that, maybe it's time for you to either run for Congress and change the laws, or go and create a device that's as good (or better) on your own. Either way you'll be contributing more to society than sitting on /. and repeatedly posting about how bad this is. And lest you call me a hypocrit, I'm in law school taking copyright classes and the like, so that perhaps I might be able to make a difference when finished.

  14. I'd just like to point out by SpiritGod21 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Apple's firmware division is not in charge of Gundam.