Tech Crunch asked the same question and talked with one of the two hackers that announced progress over the weekend. Wang explained what makes iOS 6 so hard to jailbreak on A5 devices, why exploits are so scarce and why the public jailbreak code is still miles away.
Confronted with numerous other things that take their toll on the jailbreaking process, teams have shifted focus to individual projects, but then again, iOS 6 is much stronger, as Apple introduced changes that reduce access to the bootrom, where hackers fished for vulnerabilities. “The bootrom has been getting smaller and smaller, but we can’t even get a dump of it right now. Even if we get code controlling the entire phone running, like we do, we can’t see the bootrom” Wang explained.
Hackers used to take advantage of a bootrom exploit called Limera1n to jailbreak iPhone 4 and previous models, but with A5 devices, Apple made sure this vulnerability was removed. It was the kind of exploit that once taken advantage of it would last for the entire life of the device, so no need for another jailbreak if the device is rebooted. Now, “in order to upgrade the bootrom, you have to throw out your phone and get a new one... so [Apple] can’t ever upgrade Limera1n”.
“It sure seems like it, because who else would care about reading the bootrom? You can’t really get a virus on your phone by reading the bootrom” Wang said of Apple restricting access to the bootrom. Tech Crunch writes that hackers used to found exploits in bootrom over USB, but Apple made sure those bugs will not exist with iOS 6 and A5 devices. So hackers need to start looking for exploits some other place, like for instance the Lightning connector.
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