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Apple Says the Leaked iPhone Source Code is Outdated (cnet.com)
Apple has responded to security concerns surrounding leaked iPhone source code, pointing out that any potential vulnerabilities would be outdated. From a report: "Old source code from three years ago appears to have been leaked," Apple said in a statement, "but by design the security of our products doesn't depend on the secrecy of our source code. There are many layers of hardware and software protections built in to our products, and we always encourage customers to update to the newest software releases to benefit from the latest protections." The iBoot source code for iOS 9, a core part of what keeps your iPhones and iPads secure when they turn on, was leaked on GitHub, Motherboard first reported. The source code leak was considered a major security issue for Apple, as hackers could dig through it and search for any vulnerabilities in iBoot. Apple had used a DMCA notice to get the Github page hosting the leaked code taken down, but multiple copies of the code have already spread online.
That code may contain ROM source code
It likely doesn't, given that a large part of the ROM code's job is to validate the integrity of iBoot (the part of iOS that leaked). Ars' writeup goes into a tiny bit more detail about what iBoot actually is, but the relevant bit for this conversation is that iBoot is the next step in the chain after ROM in the secure bootup procedure. Of course, being able to review iBoot's code can likely provide some insight into how the ROM's code is designed to function.