It has been quite some time since Apple owners ever heard of an iOS jailbreak. And thanks to a slip-up, it appears a jailbreak has once again surfaced. A lot of this was the Cupertino company's own doing when it mistakenly unpatched a vulnerability on iOS 12.4 which was already fixed on iOS 12.3.

According to Motherboard, hackers have already taken advantage of the issue and have released an iOS 12.4 jailbreak. The crack reportedly works on devices running on the latest iOS version as well as operating systems below iOS 12.3. The vulnerability was discovered when a user tested an older jailbreak on the latest Apple operating system and discovered that the patch had been reverted.

While there are Apple users who have been longing for an iOS jailbreak, it should be remembered that this does cause problems. This includes devices becoming vulnerable to the "100+ day exploit". The bug can also exploit and install spyware on iPhones.

Apple has yet to comment on the issue although security researchers are now cautioning iPhone users on the apps they download from the App Store. According to Stefan Esser, any such app could have a copy of the jailbreak in it.

iOS 12.4 is believed to be the last iOS upgrade with an iOS 13 release looming over the horizon. After four high-quality releases, it will be interesting to see if Apple will release a fix for the said vulnerability. If one does come out, it could come soon since a lot of iPhone owners are expected to demand for one.

Aside from the jailbreak issue, iOS 12.4 (for those who have updated) does bring in some nifty features. That includes iPhone migration, Apple News, and security fixes to the Walkie-Talkie app on the Apple Watch. Of these new features it is actually the migration tool that most will find handy. Moving data from one iPhone to another has become a bane for most, especially if these are big files. The only catch here is that both devices need to be running on iOS 12.4.

If Apple does not release a fix for the iOS jailbreak issue, iPhone owners may have to wait until iOS 13. The expected release date for it is on September 17, meaning folks will have to be careful for now until the next Apple OS starts to officially roll out.

iOS Apps
A leaked document reportedly reveals that Apple iOS 13.3 build is coming as early as Dec.11. Getty Images/Andrew Burton