iOS 12.4 jailbreak released after Apple ‘accidentally un-patches’ an old flaw

Aug 20, 2019

A fully functional jailbreak has been released for the latest
iOS 12.4 on the Internet, making it the first public jailbreak in a
long time—thanks to Apple.

Dubbed “unc0ver 3.5.0,” the jailbreak works with the
updated iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches by leveraging a
vulnerability that Apple previously patched in iOS 12.3 but
accidentally reintroduced in the latest iOS version 12.4.

Jailbreaking an iPhone allows you to install apps and other
functions that are usually not approved by Apple, but it also
disables some system protections that Apple put in place to protect
its users, opening you up to potential attacks.

Usually, iPhone Jailbreaks are sold for millions of dollars by
exploit brokers, but if you want to jailbreak your Apple device,
you can do it for free.

An anonymous researcher who goes by the online alias “Pwn20wnd” has
released a free jailbreak for iOS
12.4 ^[1] on GitHub that exploits
a use-after-free vulnerability in iOS kernel responsibly reported
to Apple earlier this year by Ned Williamson, a researcher working
with Google Project Zero.

The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2019-8605 ^[2], allows an application
to execute arbitrary code with system privileges on a target Apple
device, which can not only be used to jailbreak them but also
leaves users vulnerable to hackers.

According to researchers, besides embedding the exploit into an
innocent-looking app, the vulnerability can also be exploited
remotely by combining it with sandbox bypass flaws in Apple Safari
web browser or other Internet exposed services.

Though Apple patched this vulnerability in iOS 12.3, it
accidentally reintroduced the same bug in iOS 12.4, making it
easier for hackers to compromise Apple devices.

As Pwn20wnd told ^[3] Motherboard, “somebody
could make perfect spyware by exploiting this vulnerability.”

“For example, he said, a malicious app could include an exploit for
this bug that allows it to escape the usual iOS sandbox—a mechanism
that prevents apps from reaching data of other apps or the
system—and steal user data.”

The new jailbreak works on updated iOS devices, including the
iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR or the 2019 iPad Mini and iPad Air,
running iOS 12.4 and iOS 12.2 or earlier, but does not work at all
on devices running iOS 12.3 that patched the bug.
Several Apple users have taken to Twitter, claiming they used the
Pwn20wnd jailbreak tool to successfully jailbreak [1, 2, 3, 4] their Apple devices, including the recent
iPhone X and iPhone XR, and posting screenshots of their iPhone
screens with unapproved app installations.

Since Apple doesn’t allow users to downgrade their operating
system, users who have already upgraded their Apple devices to the
latest version of iOS released late last month are left with no
option other than waiting for an update from Apple.

Likely, Apple is already working on a patch to re-implement its
earlier patch that will be released with iOS 12.4.1. Meanwhile, you
should also beware of apps you download from the App Store until a
patch releases.

References

^{^}
jailbreak for iOS 12.4
(github.com)
^{^}
CVE-2019-8605
(support.apple.com)
^{^}
told
(www.vice.com)

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OWASP TOP !0

Injection. Injection flaws, such as SQL, NoSQL, OS, and LDAP injection, occur when untrusted data is sent to an interpreter as part of a command or query. The attacker’s hostile data can trick the interpreter into executing unintended commands or accessing data without proper authorization. Broken Authentication. Application functions related to authentication and session management are often implemented incorrectly, allowing attackers to compromise passwords, keys, or session tokens, or to exploit other implementation flaws to assume other users’ identities temporarily or permanently. Sensitive Data Exposure. Many web applications and APIs do not properly protect sensitive data, such as financial, healthcare, and PII. Attackers may steal or modify such weakly protected data to conduct credit card fraud, identity theft, or other crimes. Sensitive data may be compromised without extra protection, such as encryption at rest or in transit, and requires special precautions when exchanged with the browser. XML External Entities (XXE). Many older or poorly configured XML processors evaluate external entity references within XML documents. External entities can be used to disclose internal files using the file URI handler, internal file shares, internal port scanning, remote code execution, and denial of service attacks. Broken Access Control. Restrictions on what authenticated users are allowed to do are often not properly enforced. Attackers can exploit these flaws to access unauthorized functionality and/or data, such as access other users’ accounts, view sensitive files, modify other users’ data, change access rights, etc. Security Misconfiguration. Security misconfiguration is the most commonly seen issue. This is commonly a result of insecure default configurations, incomplete or ad hoc configurations, open cloud storage, misconfigured HTTP headers, and verbose error messages containing sensitive information. Not only must all operating systems, frameworks, libraries, and applications be securely configured, but they must be patched/upgraded in a timely fashion. Cross-Site Scripting XSS. XSS flaws occur whenever an application includes untrusted data in a new web page without proper validation or escaping, or updates an existing web page with user-supplied data using a browser API that can create HTML or JavaScript. XSS allows attackers to execute scripts in the victim’s browser which can hijack user sessions, deface web sites, or redirect the user to malicious sites. Insecure Deserialization. Insecure deserialization often leads to remote code execution. Even if deserialization flaws do not result in remote code execution, they can be used to perform attacks, including replay attacks, injection attacks, and privilege escalation attacks. Using Components with Known Vulnerabilities. Components, such as libraries, frameworks, and other software modules, run with the same privileges as the application. If a vulnerable component is exploited, such an attack can facilitate serious data loss or server takeover. Applications and APIs using components with known vulnerabilities may undermine application defenses and enable various attacks and impacts. Insufficient Logging & Monitoring. Insufficient logging and monitoring, coupled with missing or ineffective integration with incident response, allows attackers to further attack systems, maintain persistence, pivot to more systems, and tamper, extract, or destroy data. Most breach studies show time to detect a breach is over 200 days, typically detected by external parties rather than internal processes or monitoring.

iOS 12.4 jailbreak released after Apple ‘accidentally un-patches’ an old flaw

References

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