14 DAY TRIAL // iPhone hackers are working on developing a new jailbreak method, which exploits a newly discovered vulnerability in the boot ROM of iOS-based devices.
The most recent jailbreaks, like the notorious JailbreakMe one, were achieved by gaining root access through vulnerabilities in iOS components.
While these security holes could easily be patched by Apple to stop and reverse the hacks, the new boot ROM-based method is not that easy to block.
Boot ROM refers to the low-level software that acts as a bridge between the operating system and the underlying hardware. PC users might be more familiar with the BIOS terminology.
Since this component loads before the operating system, any instructions stored in it cannot be modified or removed through a simple iOS update.
The new jailbreak is a collaborative effort between iPhone hackers pod2g and p0sixninja, who are still working to make it easily deployable.
It is reported to even work on devices running iOS 4.1, which was released yesterday, including the new iPod Touch 4G.
A similar hack existed for iPhone 3GS in the past, but phones sold after November 2009 came with a patched boot ROM.
But even with this new development, iPhone hackers are still advising owners of jailbroken devices not to update to the new iOS 4.1 version yet.
"Crazy timing that @pod2g got latest exploit just as 4.1 went public (lots of work left...keep away from 4.1 for now!)," Dev-Team member MuscleNerd wrote on Twitter.
To some extent, the existence of a boot ROM-based jailbreak can be considered good news from a security perspective.
It's true that since it allows unverified and potentially malicious code to run on devices, jailbreaking comes with certain security risks.
However, at least with this type of exploit users who prefer to have complete control over their devices can install iOS security updates without the fear of loosing that freedom.