iOS 6.1.3 Likely to Patch Evasi0n Jailbreak

iOS 6.1.3 is likely to patch the current Evasi0n jailbreak, one that has quickly become the most popular jailbreaking effort to reach Apple’s mobile iDevices, having run on over 7 million iPhones, iPads, and iPod touch. With information derived from the recently released developer build of iOS 6.1.3 beta 2, a member of the Evasi0n team, David Wang, discovered that Apple has patched at least one of the exploited bugs that allowed the jailbreak to function.

Speaking to Forbes in an interview:

Wang … analyzed the 6.1.3 beta 2 update and found that it patches at least one of the five bugs the jailbreak exploits, namely a flaw in the operating system’s time zone settings. The beta update likely signals the end of using evasi0n to hack new or updated devices after the update is released to users,

Wang mentions that with one such vulnerability patched, the jailbreak is likely to be rendered unusable, and goes on to speculate that all of the bugs that allowed for the Evasi0n jailbreak will probably be patched:

“If one of the vulnerabilities doesn’t work, evasi0n doesn’t work,” he says. “We could replace that part with a different vulnerability, but [Apple] will probably fix most if not all of the bugs we’ve used when 6.1.3 comes out.”

In short, this means if you enjoy the current Evasi0n jailbreak on any iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running iOS 6.1.2 or earlier, you should avoid the iOS 6.1.3 update when it arrives in the near future. It’s entirely possible a new jailbreak will be released that gets around the patching, but in the meantime jailbreakers will find it safest to simply avoid the new iOS release entirely until it has been proven one way or another.

For those who don’t jailbreak, iOS 6.1.3 will likely be a minor update to include several bug fixes, including a patch for the bug that allows users to perform a series of actions to bypass a lock screen and gain access to a users contacts.