Browser-Based iOS 9.1/9.2 Jailbreak Wins $1M Bounty, Will Be Sold for Corporate and Government Use

[MacRumors]

Earlier this month, exploit acquisition platform Zerodium debuted an iOS 9 bug bounty that would pay out up to three million dollars to hackers who managed to develop a browser-based untethered jailbreak for iOS 9, which it could then sell to clients interested in shelling out a lot of money to gain illicit access to iOS devices.

The contest expired at the end of October, and Zerodium today announced one hacking team had successfully created a browser-based jailbreak for iOS 9.1 and iOS 9.2, the latest versions of iOS 9, earning $1 million.

Zerodium foundar Chaouki Bekrar told Wired that the exploit developed by the hackers will be given to its customers, which include major technology, finance, and defense corporations, along with government agencies. The contest rules required the exploit to be achievable remotely without requiring user interaction beyond reading a text message or visiting a website via Chrome or Safari on an iOS device.

Bekrar confirmed that Zerodium plans to reveal the technical details of the technique to its customers, whom the company has described as "major corporations in defense, technology, and finance" seeking zero-day attack protection as well as "government organizations in need of specific and tailored cybersecurity capabilities."

Because it's selling the jailbreak ("likely" to U.S. customers only), Zerodium does not plan to report the vulnerabilities in the operating system to Apple, though Bekrar says the company may share the details at a later date. The jailbreak also won't be provided to the general public, but Bekrar says Zerodium announced the results of the contest to remind people that while iOS security is "very hardened," it's not unbreakable.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: Browser-Based iOS 9.1/9.2 Jailbreak Wins $1M Bounty, Will Be Sold for Corporate and Government Use

 

[locoboi187]

This is very very bad. This is going to be abused by either our government or another malicious party. For example, all one would need to do is inject the exploit in an unencrypted WiFi to gain complete control over a phone since this is a browser based hack.

 

[TechGod]

WHAT THE HELL???

 

[William Gates]

So use your TouchID, 6 digit, or alphanumeric passcodes and this root will not be able to be executed against you.

 

[TechGod]

This is scary. Screw you US!

 

[Speedman100]

Um is this like legal?

 

[melgross]

Folks, this is just a jailbreak, it's neither illegal, nor can it be applied to a phone whose owner doesn't want it, just like all the other jailbreaks over the years.

 

[Stella]

Ugh... Iffy!

 

[agsystems]

So use your TouchID, 6 digit, or alphanumeric passcodes and this root will not be able to be executed against you.

From the technical side, I am interested on how this was done - a browser based exploit escape the sandbox and was able to execute as root - sounds like a great accomplishment - god blessed whoever they will target with this.

 

[Z400Racer37]

holy crap that's crazy......

"one hacking team" = NSA

 

[SSD-GUY]

Buy Apple they said. It's secure they said.

 

[BittenApple]

Folks, this is just a jailbreak, it's neither illegal, nor can it be applied to a phone whose owner doesn't want it, just like all the other jailbreaks over the years.

Yes it can. More scary is the fact that it can install software without you knowing or being able to tell the difference.

 

[Crosscreek]

Just goes to show that nothing is sacred or safe in cyberspace and is without conscience.

 

[AtheistP3ace]

Wow, scary!

 

[FatMax]

This is insane.

America plus palm face.

 

[marioman38]

Is this credible or do they just want business and notoriety

 

[KALLT]

Folks, this is just a jailbreak, it's neither illegal, nor can it be applied to a phone whose owner doesn't want it, just like all the other jailbreaks over the years.

The contest rules required the exploit to be achievable remotely without requiring user interaction beyond reading a text message or visiting a website via Chrome or Safari on an iOS device.

What do you think a jailbreak is? It's just a fancy name for an exploit that you want to use. If applied against your will or without your knowledge it is simply malware.

 

[2457282]

Hopefully, Apple who is sneaky is actually one of the customers and will plug the hole quickly. Yes wishful thinking, we might get a plug if the hole goes public and then probably in iOS 10. (SMH)

 

[PowerBook-G5]

Couldn't Apple buy this, fix the issue, and push out an update?

Edit: You beat me, @Cuban Missles :^)

 

[sziehr]

So the nice thing that this is happening to apple is they will now patch it in the very next release. If this was found in the root code of android you might never see a patch like stage fright and stage fright 2.

 

[parapup]

Folks, this is just a jailbreak, it's neither illegal, nor can it be applied to a phone whose owner doesn't want it, just like all the other jailbreaks over the years.

Umm no - if the below quote doesn't make it clear, I am not sure what will -

Bekrar confirmed that Zerodium plans to reveal the technical details of the technique to its customers, whom the company has described as "major corporations in defense, technology, and finance" seeking zero-day attack protection as well as "government organizations in need of specific and tailored cybersecurity capabilities."

Jailbreaks aren't magic fairy dust that only do their magic when you want them to - they are plain old root exploits that anyone can use against you without your knowledge - compromised ad servers, websites etc can install software without you knowing - just by visiting the wrong site / URL, knowingly or unknowingly.

 

[jpn]

uninstalling Chrome browser on my iPhone today.
the winning team for the hack probably gains entry through the Chrome browser, not Safari on iOS.

 

[goobot]

All Apple has to do is have a few employees fake working for a new made up company to get the exploit and then patch it in 9.2

 

[Trik]

I think there is some confusion about what a jailbreak is... "jailbreaking" your phone IS something you can choose to do for sure, but it is also the method by which hackers will use to get at the information on your phone or install malicious code to monitor your usage after the fact. This is an untethered jailbreak that runs via a URL. So an email with a short URL can jailbreak your phone, and you wouldn't even know it happened unless you're constantly looking for that sort of thing.

 

[pubwvj]

The won't say who one, they won't say how it is done because... (drum roll please) ...they failed.