New iBoot Exploit Makes A5(X) Devices Jailbreakable For Life

Well this comes as a surprise! Earlier today iH8Sn0w, the developer behind popular Jailbreak tools like P0sixpwn and Sn0wbreeze, has just tweeted that he has discovered a new iBoot exploit which should make A5(X) devices Jailbreakable for life.

So looks like all my A5(X) devices are fully untethered and jailbroken for life now. :)

— iH8sn0w (@iH8sn0w) February 1, 2014

This news has caused quite a bit of excitement in the Jailbreaking community considering we haven’t seen anything close to an iBoot exploit since the LimeRa1n days back in October 2010.

So why does an iBoot exploit mean devices are Jailbroken for life?

Well iBoot is shipped with the device, and cannot be modified with an iOS software update therefore it would be impossible for Apple to patch the exploit. And although it’s no bootrom exploit, iH8Sn0w has elaborated that it is just as powerful.

@Pacman4484 @AmaznSpoderman actually. iBoot exploits are just as powerful as bootrom exploits (restores, dump blobs, jailbreak, untether).

— iH8sn0w (@iH8sn0w) February 1, 2014

Apple’s A5 and A5X chips power the following iOS devices:

• iPhone 4S
• iPad 2, iPad 3, original iPad mini
• iPod touch 5G

iH8sn0w has apparently used some kind of bruteforce mechanism to find the exploit. And not surprisingly, he plans to keep the details of the exploit private, so that it can be used for future jailbreaks. He also plans to work on the A6 chip next.

What this means for you is the ability to eventually Jailbreak A5(X) devices on every firmware version Apple releases. It could also prove invaluable in future Jailbreaks.