Paul Morris·

iOS 11.3.1 Jailbreak Is Happening Thanks To Ian Beer’s Exploit, Electra Will Be Updated

It seems that the jailbreak community is alive and well! A number of prominent figures in the security research and jailbreak communities have broken silences to once again ignite the fire in the collective bellies of the jailbreak community and hinted towards an iOS 11.3.1 Electra jailbreak update coming soon.

We’ve learned the hard way over the last few years that jailbreaking a particular version of iOS is a collective effort. Gone are the days where one or two people simply pull together a tool which managed to go through the full jailbreak process and which was able to be released to the community.

We certainly don’t have the same teams that we used to have in the jailbreak community but we definitely do have a talented pool of invested individuals, all of whom do their necessary parts to contribute to the bigger picture. The recent posts from those individuals confirm their continued dedication.

CoolStar’s Electra jailbreak is the only real iOS 11.0-11.1.2 jailbreak tool of note, complete with Cydia, that we’ve had in recent times and is the accepted method of jailbreaking an iOS 11-powered device. Now, thanks to a post from Project Zero’s Ian Beer, we know that an iOS 11.3.1 tfp0 is going to be released likely before next week.

If you’re interested in bootstrapping iOS kernel security research keep a research-only device on iOS 11.3.1 for more tfp0. Release probably next week. Oh, and the 11.1.2 KDP-compatible kernel debugger really is coming soon!

Beer has recommended that individuals keep “a research-only device” running iOS 11.3.1 around for when he releases that. Jonathan Levin – who is a polarizing figure in the community – has also confirmed that iOS 11.4 closes that aforementioned Ian Beer exploits and that Apple will likely close the signing window of iOS 11.3.1 as early as next week.

iOS 11.4 closes Ian’s upcoming Exploit. 11.3.1 update window likely to close by next week. Update *NOW* or suffer later.

(Btw #QiLin is forward compatible, but rootfs remount requires APFS snapshot workaround)

Reports of jailbreaking’s demise have been greatly exaggerated 🙂

Obviously, it’s within Apple’s remit to close the signing of iOS 11.3.1 as soon as is humanly possible to prevent device owners from downgrading when an iOS 11.3.1 jailbreak is released. And, speaking of that jailbreak for iOS 11.3.1, both CoolStar and nullpixel have provided a ray of hope to the community and stipulated that Electra “might be updated to support 11.3.1 soon.”

ps: Electra will probably be updated 🙂

Electra might be updated to support 11.3.1 soon, however there is a non-zero chance of it only supporting devices up to A9 due to requiring a KPP bypass

I have no real interest in devices newer than the iPhone 6S, so if we have to patch something protected by KPP I’ll likely just use the KPP bypass and not bother with iPhone 7 or newer

He does then go on to say that he isn’t really concerned with devices released after Apple’s iPhone 6s, so that any update to Electra may instantly rule out support for iPhone 7 or newer.

If you are a jailbreak enthusiast, and an iOS 11.3.1 jailbreak appeals to you, then get onto that firmware right now while you still can.

(Source: Twitter [1], [2], [3])

You may also like to check out:

You can follow us on Twitter, add us to your circle on Google+ or like our Facebook page to keep yourself updated on all the latest from Microsoft, Google, Apple and the Web.