Checkm8 Exploit Opens Door to Unpatchable Jailbreak on iPhone 4S Through iPhone X

A security researcher who goes by “axi0mX” on Twitter today released “checkm8,” which he claims is a bootrom exploit for iOS devices equipped with A5 through A11 chips, including the iPhone 4S through iPhone X, several iPad models dating back to the iPad 2, and the fifth-generation iPod touch and later.

This would be the first publicly released bootrom exploit since the iPhone 4 in 2010 and pave the way for a permanent, non-patchable jailbreak on hundreds of millions of affected iOS devices. Since the bootrom is read-only, Apple cannot patch this type of exploit with a software update.

EPIC JAILBREAK: Introducing checkm8 (read “checkmate”), a permanent unpatchable bootrom exploit for hundreds of millions of iOS devices.

Most generations of iPhones and iPads are vulnerable: from iPhone 4S (A5 chip) to iPhone 8 and iPhone X (A11 chip). https://t.co/dQJtXb78sG

— axi0mX (@axi0mX) September 27, 2019

The bootrom exploit has many other possibilities on affected devices, including downgrading iOS versions without SHSH blobs or APTickets, dual booting iOS, and running custom firmwares, according to jailbreak enthusiasts.

This is significant news in the jailbreaking community, as the last bootrom exploit known as “limera1n” was released by George “geohot” Hotz nearly a decade ago for devices with A4 chips and earlier, including the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, the third- and fourth-generation iPod touch, and the original iPad.

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