JailbreakMe 3.0 has now been used over 1 million times since it came out only 2 short days ago, according to Grant Paul (known as @chpwn on Twitter), one of the project’s contributors. Since its inception back in 2007, JailbreakMe has allowed users to jailbreak their iOS devices by simply pointing Mobile Safari to a crafted web page.
In a tweet, Grant Paul made it official:
JailbreakMe 3.0 was first unintentionally leaked over the weekend and later released officially two days ago. While there have been versions of JailbreakMe in the past, this version is particularly relevant since it’s the first ever publicly-available untethered jailbreaking method for the iPad 2, although it also works on any iPhone and iPod touch. Such an advantage has clearly contributed for the fast adoption.
Moreover, JailbreakMe is and always has been the easiest way to jailbreak iOS devices. While traditional methods require a computer and some experience dealing with DFU mode and other lesser-known features found in iOS devices, JailbreakMe is almost so trivial an 8-year-old can do it. Thanks to a vulnerability found in Mobile Safari, simply pointing it to JailbreakMe.com and following the instructions will get any device jailbroken in minutes, which in this case is hardly two taps!
At the moment, Apple hasn’t yet provided a fix for this vulnerability, although it’s been confirmed that it will in a few days, under the form of iOS 4.3.4 (the current publicly-available version of iOS is 4.3.3). Although incredibly convenient for the iOS jailbreaking community, such a widespread vulnerability is actually quite a serious threat for the common iOS user, since the exploit is now available for any hacker who wishes to take advantage of it. By redirecting a user to a maliciously-crafted PDF file, the device can easily be taken over. The vulnerability is so serious that it led a German Government body to address the matter on its website.
If you haven’t jailbroken your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch yet, be sure to read our complete step by step guide on how to jailbreak it using JailbreakMe 3.0. In case you’re planning to apply the jailbreak or have already applied it, make sure you stay away from iOS 4.3.4 and install PDF Patcher 2 from Cydia instead to be on the safe side.
Until iOS 4.3.4 is finally released, JailbreakMe 3.0 will surely remain the most popular jailbreaking method around. The concept is so simple, almost miraculous, that it eliminates the need for any other jailbreaking tool.
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