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August 5, 2010

Apple said earlier this morning that it plans to issue security patches for two critical holes in its iOS operating system that, when exploited, allow potential hackers to remotely install malicious malware on iPhones, iPads and iPods. This is the first time that Apple has acknowledged that there are security issues in iOS. Although the security vulnerabilities surfaced only over the past weekend, Apple officials didn't acknowledge them until late yesterday, the same day the German government warned that the security vulnerabilities could be exploited when users viewed booby-trapped Web sites or certain email messages.

No other user action is required, since iOS is supposed to update itself automatically, Apple was quick to point out.

Until today, the only documented exploit of the security flaws is on Jailbreakme.com, a site that makes it possible to jailbreak the Apple devices by doing nothing more than visiting the site and flicking a slider.

The hack is totally innocuous and transparent, but there's nothing preventing malicious attackers from using the same vulnerabilities to do a lot more damage that that, and this could happen sooner rather than later, the German Federal Office for Information Security said in a blog post.

"You can expect that potential attackers will soon use the weak spots for specific attacks," the agency said in a statement. “This allows potential attackers access to the complete system, including administrator rights.”

The Jailbreakme site exploits 2 very specific iOS security vulnerabilities to deliver its malware. The first exploits a hole in Apple software that parses fonts in PDF files. That allows hackers to inject code of their choosing into the document-viewing application.

A second security flaw allows them to break out of a security zone built into the devices so that the code can access the root of the iPhone.

iPhone users may want to think twice about following links included in Twitter, chat messages, and emails until the security patch is officially released by Apple.

Websense has a list of alternate browsers that require a user to click on a button before PDFs are opened.

An Apple spokeswoman issued a statement saying the company is aware of the security flaw and that “Apple has already developed a patch and it will be available to customers in an upcoming software update, but without providing any time frame.”

Without a doubt, the unpatched security vulnerabilities are the most serious to hit an unlocked mobile device from Apple since the iPhone was initially offered about three years ago.

You might think the security flaws were spawned by Adobe or Microsoft, considering the minimal amount of user interaction required and the ability of a successful exploit to completely root a device, but Apple was quick to point out very clearly that this isn't the case at all.

However, because by default iPhones are automatically open PDFs included in all emails, truly paranoid users may want to hold off checking their emails until an official security patch is released soon by Apple.

The company didn't want to provide us with a date as to what time the next iOS update will be available, but our guess could be within the next 8 to 10 days.

As always, we will keep you posted.

Guess what: Apple is probably now a lot more vigilant that it was a few weeks ago, when the well-known antenna issues were discovered on the iPhone 4 and Steve Jobs tried to downplay the problem.

Any iPhone 4 user that wished for some kind of compensation or some encouraging words from Apple certainly didn't get any of that from Steve Jobs' botched video presentation. In fact, Jobs tried every trick in the book to do the exact opposite. Toyota or BP revisited here?

While most users already knew the odds were heavily against a recall of any sort, the constant pressure and accelerating negative press Apple has received in the last week over its iPhone 4 mounting antenna issues made it at least seem like a recall could be the most drastic outcome.

But we all know that this won't happen. Not any time soon anyway.

Instead, Jobs went barely one step above the bare minimum. Beginning one week from today, every iPhone 4 customer, including those that already bought the device, will be given one of Apple's “bumper cases” for free. WOW! Thank YOU big spender-Jobs!

Jobs' policy will stay in place through the end of September, at which he said there might be a better solution or, more likely, the fervor over “Antenna Gate” as he referred to it, will have died down... (Really?)

A lot could be hanging on that statement in light of reports that Apple knew about the problem well before launch. But again, just to be sure, Jobs called those reports a “crock.” Wow.

There is at least one key piece of evidence countering that claim though. Why, after three previous iPhone launches, did Apple decide to manufacture bumper cases (thin bands that only cover the exterior antenna, thereby avoiding contact with the user) for this iPhone?

Until the iPhone 4, Apple left cases and essentially every other add-on product for its iPhones to third-party manufacturers. So why the sudden change? Worse: is it possible that Apple had the 'bumpers' manufactured even prior to the iPhone 4 launch, just in case. Just in case? Well yes-- just in case the product backfires in their faces like it did over the last week!

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Source: Apple.