If there is one thing we can say about Apple, it is that when there is a definite flaw with one of their builds, they take steps to try and make sure the flaw is addressed.
Jailbreaking has been quite the pasttime since Apple released the iPhone and then the iPad and it seems to be getting even bigger as the days go by. The PhoneIt hack through Cydia was incredibly popular because it was able to turn the iPad into an iPhone. An iPhone 4.3.1 jailbreak was equally popular because users were able to get themselves untethered from the very restrictive rules that Apple used for its App Store. However it appears neither of those come anywhere close to the newest JailbreakMe popularity.
Since the recent jailbreak technique was released, more than 1,000,000 people have downloaded it from the Jailbreakme.com website. This particular jailbreak takes advantage of a flaw that exists in iOS devices’ PDF reader. This particular flaw apparently makes it extremely easy to download and implement the jailbreak feature. Because of this, Apple has apparently noticed that they need to work fairly quickly to repair the jailbreak in order to keep their customers tied to the Apple App store. Of course, part of the reason the company is working this quickly to fix the flaw isn’t just because they don’t want people to use the newest jailbreak (there are obviously others out there) but because the jailbreak seizes on a security flaw that could lead to much more important hacks that could actually affect a user’s personal information.
Apple is saying that this particular fix is being worked on quick enough that they believe it will be offered up in their next software upgrade. There is currently no timetable for the release of either the update or the fix because the flaw was just announced to the public earlier this week. While Apple may have even known about the flaw for quite a while it is possible they weren’t aware of just how easy it was to open the door and walk on through using the PDF reader. The last time a flaw like this was detected in August of 2010, it took about a week for Apple to fix it.
