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Browser-Based Jailbreak For iPhone 4 Released
WrongSizeGlass writes "Apple Insider is reporting on a browser-based 'jailbreak' for iPhone 4. Hackers on Sunday released the first 'jailbreak' for the iPhone 4, a browser-based exploit that allows users to run unauthorized code. Unlike previous jailbreaks, which required users to run software on their Mac or PC and tether their iPhone to their computer, the latest hack is done entirely within the Safari browser. Users simply visit the URL to begin the process, which modifies the iOS mobile operating system found on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Some users have reported that the modification results in broken MMS and FaceTime functionality. This jailbreak does not work on iPads running iOS 3.2.1. "
This made the BBC news website front page - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10836692
Now, just need a fix for iOS4 being slow and shit on the iPhone 3G....
Yes, but there has never been a time where Mobile Safari was free of remotely exploitable flaws. If you look at the history of the iPhone OS release notes, you will always find gaping holes that were closed in Safari, and many of them were uncovered by third parties. For example see the release notes of iOS 4.0 which contain nuggets like "Impact: Visiting a maliciously crafted website may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution" due to CVE-2009-2195 in WebKit.
Just as a heads up to anyone thinking of buying and/or jailbreaking an iPhone 4, keep in mind that this is a userland jailbreak (like Spirit) and not a bootrom jailbreak like 24Kpwn. This is significant because this jailbreak only works on iOS versions with the vulnerable component, which means that Apple can and surely will patch it out in 4.1. This is also why Apple is signing their firmware: once they do release 4.1 they'll stop signing 4.0.x and it will be impossible to jailbreak new iPhone 4/3GSes as those devices will ship with 4.1 and it will be impossible to downgrade. Existing owners should be sure to backup their SHSH blobs using Cydia or Tiny Umbrella so that you can downgrade or reinstall 4.0.x in the future, otherwise you will be trapped just like new iPhone owners. 3G owners are also encouraged to backup their SHSH blobs, as Apple is soft-signing iOS 4.x on those devices (even though the hardware can't enforce it).
Anyhow, while I'm excited to see an iPhone 4 jailbreak, I'm a bit worried about the fact that it's another userland jailbreak. No one has successfully exploited the Apple bootrom since iBoot-359.3.2 was released last year, which is troubling. It's not possible to replicate the complete jailbreakability of the iPhone/3G without a bootrom exploit, and as iOS can quickly be updated to stamp out new userland exploits there's a distinct risk of the hackers running out of practical ways to jailbreak the platform through such limited means. Unless someone does find a new bootrom exploit, the "golden age" of jailbreaking has probably already sailed, and in the long run this is a very bad thing. The (practically) unhackable computer marches in on all fronts...
The Facetime and MMS issues were due to a permissions problem, which has already been sorted out, per planetbeing's Twitter feed.