Tag: Jailbreak

Apple Now Actively Taking A Stance Against Jailbreakers

For years people have been jailbreaking their iOS devices to run things that Apple won’t allow, whether it be apps or themes. They’ve never actively done a lot against the jailbreaking community, until now.

I’m due to take my iPhone into the Apple Store due to some hardware issues, but of course I was running a jailbroken iOS 4.3.2, so I spent 3 hours trying to restore it. It got stuck in a constant restore cycle. I tried using RecBoot, TinyUmbrella and iRecovery to try and get it out of it but it just wouldn’t work.

Turns out that Apple have now updated iTunes to check the hosts file on the computer and if there is an entry under ‘gs.apple.com’ it will put your device into a constant restore cycle. This is because some of the tools used for jailbreaking will add the ‘gs.apple.com’ entry to the hosts file to stop the local machine talking back to the server. Of course it’s simple to remove the entry and restore but for whose who don’t know about this will be stuck with a very expensive paperweight. It does rise some other issues, some people may have very large host files and therefore it will simply take too long and then iTunes will assume the device is jailbroken and put it into the constant recovery cycle.

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Limera1n Released A Day Prior To greenpois0n’s Release

In the last few hours a big disruption in the jailbreak scene with the release of limera1n, the untethered jailbreak from geohot. That’s right the same geohot who left the jailbreak scene after he kept getting pestered by people about jailbreak releases. Over the last 6 months, geohot has been working on the jailbreak for the last 6 months. On the website, over at limera1n.com, it says that it’s unpatchable and that it will work on the iPad, iPod Touch 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and iPod Touch 4G on the firmware 4.0 and above. This jailbreak is in beta and so is very messy and so MusleNerd of the Chronic Dev-Team has said on Twitter to wait for the release of greenpois0n.

The limera1n jailbreak is only currently avaliable for Windows but geohot is working on a Mac & Linux version of the software. There have been a few reported issues with the jailbreak so far such as the 3GS new bootrom not being supported. The release comes a day before The Chronic Dev-Teams release of their untethered jailbreak greenpois0n, which uses a different exploit.

Currently it’s not known what The Chronic Dev-Team will do as they have 3 options available to them, they can either: not release greenpois0n and save the exploit, release the greenpois0n jailbreak and use a second exploit or use geohot’s exploit and then possibly break the ETA of 10:10:10 10/10/10 GMT.

It seems that geohot has done thing on purpose but has released in a sense, an incomplete solution just to spite The Chronic Dev-Team and their efforts. The Chronic Dev-Team are still talking at this point and trying to come to a decision of what to do, the best decision in most peoples opinion would be for them to implement the limera1n exploit and keep the SHAtter exploit for future releases.

If your thinking of using the limera1n release please know that the iPhone Dev-Team and The Chronic Dev-Team were not involved in it’s creation and therefore any issues caused by it shouldn’t have to be fixed by them as it’s geohot’s software which he choose to release in beta. I would recommend waiting for the greenpoison release, it may take a few more days but at least you’ll know all the issues will be fixed. I’ll keep everyone updated on the happenings in the jailbreak scene, make sure to check back frequently for any updates.

Update: The Chronic Dev-Team have chosed to release the greenpois0n jailbreak tool using geohot’s exploit and not the SHAtter exploit.

The Chronic Dev-Team Tweet

A Quick Update

Due to college work I’ve been unable to update the blog as much as I’d like and although I have been updating the R5 release dates, I haven’t been posting news posts recently. Once this main work is done I should have some more time to write. I do plan on doing some video review of apps just to try something new and maybe written reviews too.

I now have an iPhone 4 so I do plan, once the greenpois0n jailbreak is released to release some retina display ready winterboard themes. I’m also tempted to start my own repo and include themes, wallpapers, ringtones etc.

I’ll try to keep you all updated as much as possible and if you have any ideas or suggestions please leave a comment or get in touch via twitter.

iOS 4.1 Live For Download

Apple has pushed out the iOS 4.1 update as promised, if your running a iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPod Touch 2G, iPod Touch 3G or iPod Touch 4G then the update is available for free to you now. It’s not a huge update but it fixes the iPhone 3G performance issues, Game Center is now activated and proximity sensor and bluetooth issues have been fixed for the iPhone 4.

As usual, if your a jailbreak user, or someone who relys on a hacked unlock then do not update yet until the iPhone Dev-Team give the go ahead. Make sure to backup your SHSH blobs whilst you still have the chance as well.

iPod Nano Re-Designed

Apple has announced it’s 6th generation iPod Nano, a complete new design as usual but with this new design comes some loss of features. It now sports a multi-touch display which allows double tap to zoom and a two finger gesture to rotate. It’s 46% smaller and 42% lighter than the previous model and has volume buttons on the side along with a clip on the back. The battery will last you 24 hours of audio playback but seems there is no sign of video playback and the camera has gone.

So overall you gain the multi-touch display but lose video playback and video recording using the built-in camera on the 5th generation nano. Prices are set at 8GB for £129/$149 and £159/$179 for 16GB, pre-orders are being taken now.

Update: It seems that according to Apple Reps the iPod Nano isn’t running the iOS just a OS that is very similar in appearance.

Surik Creates Fix For PDF Security Issues

Surik, creator of the Cydia store has rolled out a patch that fixes PDF security issues that are fixed by the 4.0.2 update along with ones that Apple hasn’t fixed yet. Seems that if you want to be secure and protected the only thing to do is to jailbreak your device, escpailly if your running a first gen iPhone or iPod Touch. The package can be found in Cydia.

Related Articles:
How To: Change Your iPhone’s SSH Password

Apple Has Already Fixed Browser Security Hole

The hole in Safari has already been patched by Apple and they are preparing it for an upcoming software update, so make sure you back up your SHSH for your firmware so that you can restore back to it and use the JailbreakMe.com method to jailbreak your device. If your thinking of getting an iPhone 4 you better pick it up soon, because as soon as the new update is out you won’t be able to use the same exploit to jailbreak your phone.

On Wednesday an Apple spokeswoman said in a statement, “We’re aware of this reported issue, we have already developed a fix and it will be available to customers in an upcoming software update.”

How To: Protect Your iDevice From PDF Exploits

For all those of you who have used the JailbreakMe.com method of jailbreaking then you took advantage of a PDF exploit in the Safari application. This is good that you can jailbreak your device so easily but it also means anyone with the right know how can run code on your iDevice. This means that if in the wrong hands it could be used for malicious purposes.

The iPhone Dev-Team or Apple will eventually patch the PDF hole, probably the latter. For now you need to make sure your device is protected so that you don’t fall into any malicious traps. You need to install a Cydia package called PDF Loading Warner, this package displays a pop-up when your device is about to open a PDF. It won’t stop this exploit but it will let you choose not to open a PDF that might be malicious. It has caused some issues with iBooks when opening PDF files as you have to dismiss the pop-up numerous times. However it’s a small price to pay for such an easy jailbreak.