Researchers drop checkm8-style BootROM exploit for A12 and A13 iPhones
Owners of affected iPhones can stop checking for patches now: the fix for this SecureROM bug comes in a new handset
A newly disclosed BootROM exploit affecting Apple's A12 and A13 chips gives researchers a way to break the secure boot chain on millions of iPhones and other Apple devices.
The exploit, dubbed “usbliter8” by security researchers at Paradigm Shift, targets a flaw in the SecureROM code found on the iPhone XS, XR, 11, and 11 Pro models, plus other devices powered by Apple's A12 and A13 processors. Because the vulnerability resides in immutable BootROM code burned into silicon during manufacturing, it cannot be patched.
The researchers traced the issue to the Synopsys DesignWare USB controller used by Apple. A flaw in how the hardware handles certain USB setup packets allows attackers to corrupt memory during Device Firmware Update (DFU) mode, and ultimately gain control of SecureROM itself.
That...
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