iOS jailbreak scene rising back from the dead – Houdini released and iOS 10.3.3 and 11.1.2 hacks on the horizon
While I don’t usually write about jailbreaking, I think an exception can be made for this article. In a span of under 3 days, the iOS hacking scene went from almost silent (with the last mostly stable and working JB being for iOS 10.2) to teeming with life and hope. The aim of this article is to bring you up to speed in the most concise manner possible 🙂
iOS 11.1.2 tfp0 exploit is on the horizon
On Wednesday, Ian Beer, a well-known computer security researcher and Project Zero member created a new Twitter account to share some important news with us all.
He seems to have found an exploit that works on (all?) iOS devices that are on iOS 11.1.2 or lower. The exploit allows code to be run with kernel privilages so it has the highest privilages possible. Ian Beer plans to release his work on the tfp0 (task at pid 0) exploit which according to Redditors is about 80% of a jailbreak. This means that with some work from other people, a full jailbreak on iOS 11.1.2 may land soon! Just don’t update to iOS 11.2 if you want a jailbreak, if you’re on 11.2, you may downgrade without restoring by reading the instructions in the link below!
iOS 10.3.3 (included) and lower exploit by Siguza
Siguza, who had a huge part in getting us Phoenix (iOS 9.3.5 jailbreak for A5/A6 devices) has released his work on the v0rtex exploit.
His current work gets code to run with root permisisons on all versions of iOS lower than 10.3.3 (included). Apparently, this exploit only works on A7-A9 devices but with some work, it could be made to work on 32-bit (Apple A6) devices too. According to some Redditors, this can be considered as 60% of a jailbreak because more work needs to be done (such as tfp0) but there’s still hope.
If a jailbreak comes out of this, 32-bit devices including A6 ones (iPhone 5/5C and iPad 4) will be jailbroken forever as iOS 10.3.3 is the last version for A6 devices! Some A7 devices (every device bar the iPad Mini 3 and late iPad Mini 2s) can be downgraded/upgraded to iOS 10.3.3 via OTA so when a method to do this comes out, this potential jailbreak will be also useable on these devices!
Houdini has been released for iOS 10.3.2 and below
Houdini is not a full jailbreak but it allows some jailbreak-esque functionality to be had on devices running iOS 10.3.2 and below (mostly useful for 10.2.1 (Saïgon takes ages to work) to 10.3.2 – 64 bit devices only). Some of its features are:
- Theming user-installed applications
- Clearing app cache (great way to regain some space)
- Changing the display’s resolution
- More theming options and tweaks
This program is by Abraham Masri (@cheesecakeufo) and I suggest you install it if you’re on iOS 10.2.1 to 10.3.2 since it’s the only way to get some jailbreak functionality on those versions. You may think of Houdini as an alternative to Cydia that mostly focuses on themes along with some functionality of iCleaner Pro.
Conclusion
To read more about these news items, simply follow the links below! As always, don’t nag anybody by asking for ETAs..
Houdini website (installation instructions and more): https://iabem97.github.io/houdini_website/
Lively discussion about Houdini with more info: https://www.reddit.com/r/jailbreak/comments/7i2bo3/releasealpha_not_a_jailbreak_houdini_for_ios_10x/
Ian Beer’s announcement: https://twitter.com/i41nbeer/status/938048288351293440
Discussion about Ian Beer’s announcement (easy downgrade from iOS 11.2 is in this thread): https://www.reddit.com/r/jailbreak/comments/7hqyyh/upcoming_ios_1112_tfp0_exploit_by_ian_beee/
Siguza’s post about v0rtex: https://siguza.github.io/v0rtex
Discussion about v0rtex: https://www.reddit.com/r/jailbreak/comments/7i1qeo/news_siguza_releases_wip_1033_exploit/
first and second 🙂
Have question, where is link about downgrade from 11.2?
Now this is worthy is saying second but one can Google this though
Could you please send me the rest of your comment in regards to googling how to downgrade from 11.2? I couldn’t get the link.Thanks.
This is the exact link: https://www.reddit.com/r/jailbreak/comments/7hqyyh/upcoming_ios_1112_tfp0_exploit_by_ian_beee/dqtt5z5/
Download ipsw from ipsw.me
Put iPhone in DFU mode
Restore from ipsw
I don’t know if you can restore an 11.2 backup to an iOS 11.1.2 device
there it is…..
just read…
come on kid, you can do it….
Thanks a lot, i have downgraded in time before apple stop signing the ios 11.1.2, waiting for this release. The bad thing is that ios 11.1.2 isn’t the most stable ios version (even lower IOS 11 are better)
Sad article. This site is dead.
If you don’t like what’s being written, don’t visit the website 🙂
We know you are The_Zett
aur0ra = The_Trepp
IMO I love the articles ❤️❤️❤️❤️!!!! You’re doing an amazing job so don’t ever quit !!!!
you are already dead
This and the ps3 exploit revelation is the best news I’ve had in a while. Thanks for the post, Aurora.
I wouldn’t say that the site is dead, but it has been a couple of slow news weeks.
I agree,this site seems to miss a lot of things on the PS3/Vita scene.
That’s why I started to go to psx place instead,just this week they posted news about a new CFW for PS3 and a mini-guide on hacking a PS3 with a non-working BD.
There are news,that the crew at wololo likes to ignore them is another different thing…
how do i flash this on my ps4 ??? lol
please use your gameboy link cable!
even if there is a jailbreak, theres only one repository left to get tweaks from. still kind of dead
Yeah at the moment, but if it comes off then more devs will jump on board and it will no doubt grow again.