Shortly after the JailbreakMe hack that uses Mobile Safari to jailbreak iPhones, iPads and the iPod touch hit the Web, Apple announced that it will be patching the potential security flaw the hack takes advantage of, according to Yahoo! Finance.
Jailbreaking is a process that hacks iOS so third-party apps that aren’t available through Apple’s iTunes-based App Store can be installed.
Apple plans update to patch Mobile Safari security flaw
Unlike other jailbreak tools, JailbreakMe doesn’t require a computer to handle the hacking process. Instead, users only need to go to the JailbreakMe Web site on their iPhone, iPod touch or iPad, and the security flaw the hack takes advantage of is exactly what Apple plans to patch.
While patching the flaw will take away the ease of use that JailbreakMe offers, it will also block a security flaw that could potentially be used for more nefarious deeds.
The flaw takes uses specially crafted PDF documents to install software on user’s iOS devices, potentially without their permission or knowledge. So far, there aren’t any reports of malicious uses of the flaw, only the JailbreakMe hack.
Bethan Lloyd, a spokesperson for Apple, said the company is “aware of this reported issue and developing a fix that will be available to customers in an upcoming software update.”
There isn’t any word yet on when to expect the security update to be released.