Traditionally, Apple has always released very secure iOS builds and they are always fighting to keep the platform as protected as possible. However, it has recently made a huge mistake that has the potential to blow the entire platform wide open. Recently, it was revealed that Apple’s iOS developers have been sloppy and a rather old vulnerability that had been patched in the past has been broken in the move to iOS 12.4. This makes it possible for an iPhone running on Apple’s latest operating system to run unsigned code.
A related report by Forbes states, “That could be an intentional choice by users wanting to access alternate app stores or access functions not normally exposed (a classic jailbreak) but it is more likely to be used maliciously, for example using a bug in another application that allows code to be run remotely on any up to date iPhone.”
This is a very huge mistake by Apple; however, there are some limitations worth mentioning. This vulnerability does not affect iOS devices featuring the Apple A12 chip; which means the iPhone X will be affected, but not the iPhone XS, XS Max and iPhone XR. In recent years, Apple hasn’t mentioned the number of devices sold so there is no way of determining how many of you are protected.
Also, you need to have iOS 12.4 installed which makes this the one time where Apple’s ability to shift its user base to the latest version of the mobile operating system is not helpful. Drastically, Apple has also pulled iOS 12.2 and 12.3 from its backend and has stopped signing them. This gives users no choice but to upgrade to iOS 12.4 if they are coming from an older version.
Also, for those who are looking to jailbreak their iOS devices, there could be various issues popping up if they plan on using Apple’s services; as Apple will be double-checking the devices that try to connect to them.
