New checkm8 jailbreak can wreak havoc with millions of iPhone devices

Here is a new iOS jailbreak lurking around and it can lead to unrestricted and permanent access to iPhones. Named checkm8, the exploit can target any generation of iPhones prior to iPhone XR/ XS, of which there are hundreds and millions of the phones still in use the world over.

What makes the checkm8 jailbreak to be one having the most far-reaching and potentially devastating consequences is that it exploits a vulnerability that is inherent to the iOS platform itself. And it being etched in ROM itself makes it of a permanent nature, meaning it’s just not something that Apple can patch with an update anytime.

Specifically, checkm8 relies on a bootrom exploit, which in other words is a vulnerability in the initial iOS code that loads when the device starts up. All iPhone devices having the A5 chip and through the A11 processor is vulnerable to the jailbreak. In other words, its iPhone 4S through to the more recent iPhone X that can be affected.

If Apple hasn’t patched the loophole on last year’s A12 chip, the checkm8 could come to haunt the iPhone X as well as iPhone XS and iPhone XR devices as well. Fortunately, with the latest iPhone 11 series featuring the new A13 Bionic chip, those might well be immune to the checkm8 jailbreak. Apple though isn’t confirming any of that and is yet to make any reaction to the development.

Also, while its more or less established checkm8 can provide one unrestricted access to the above mentioned iPhone devices, and one that Apple may not be able to fix, there is still some confusion as what lies next. The possibilities are endless though, and both on the right and wrong sides of the law.

For instance, the possibility of jailbreaking the said iPhones could well lead to many hacking their iOS platform to load the sort of programs they would prefer but aren’t allowed given Apple’s restrictions on the same.

Unfortunately, the prospect of hacking the iPhones is no doubt just the sort of thing that unscrupulous hackers have been waiting for and might be already working on means to steal information and do whatnot, all thanks to the checkm8 jailbreak.