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A new unpatchable flaw in Apple chips opens the door to an iPhone jailbreak

Published

1 hour ago

June 22, 2026

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A company that sells spyware and hacking tools to government agencies has published details of a vulnerability in Apple chips that can potentially help hackers unlock older iPhones.

This release opens the door for other researchers who specialize in finding iOS vulnerabilities, such as those working for governments or their contractors, to develop effective hacks for iPhones, provided they can find additional vulnerabilities to chain together with this one. This could help security researchers develop a so-called iPhone jailbreak, a technique to hack into Apple’s mobile operating system and remove all the restrictions the company puts on it.

The release is also a reminder that while Apple has made iPhones extremely hard to hack, there are and will always be vulnerabilities that sophisticated hackers can take advantage of to break in.

On Friday, Paradigm Shift, an offensive cybersecurity company based in Barcelona, published a blog post about the vulnerability, which it dubbed “usbliter8.” The company also published a proof of concept that shows how to exploit the vulnerability, which requires physical access to the target phone.

The flaw and related exploit affect iPhones that have Apple-made chips A12 and A13, which were released in 2018 and 2019, and are included in older iPhones such as the XS, XR and up to the iPhone 11.

The release of usbliter8 is significant in the world of security research and spyware and hacking tools’ makers, but it does not mean that older iPhones are easily hackable by anyone.

The bug found by Paradigm Shift affects the iPhone’s Boot ROM, which is the first piece of code that runs when an iPhone is turned on and, consequently, its first line of defense against hackers. To hack an iPhone with physical access to it — meaning having the ability to connect a cable to it — hackers need to first exploit the Boot ROM. Now, they can do that thanks to usbliter8, which allows them to potentially defeat and bypass further security checks.

Paradigm Shift wrote in its blog that “as these vulnerabilities reside in immutable code, affected users should be aware that migrating to newer hardware remains the most effective mitigation.”

In other words, given that the Boot ROM is burned into the chip, it can’t be changed and flaws in it cannot be patched.

Generally speaking, companies that sell systems to hack iPhones seized by authorities, such as Cellebrite and Magnet Forensics need, and likely already have at their disposal, techniques similar to usbliter8 to break into iPhones. However, hackers still need to incorporate other techniques to access the user data stored in the phone.

Public iPhone jailbreaks were relatively widespread in the past, but they have become rarer in the last decade. Jailbreaking an iPhone is often the first step to either research other vulnerabilities on the system. Researchers — intent on finding valuable iPhone flaws and ways to exploit them — have few incentives to release that information publicly, because that would lead to Apple fixing the flaws and setting the researchers back.

Paradigm Shift did not respond to a series of questions related to usbliter8.

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Related Topics:Apple chips door flaw iPhone jailbreak opens unpatchable

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Canada High Commission’s Diplomats Football Competition Praised For Promoting Togetherness, Closeness, Enjoyment

Published

21 minutes ago

June 22, 2026

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A recreational football competition organised at the weekend by the High Commission of Canada in Abuja has been praised for providing diplomats from various countries with opportunities for togetherness, closeness and enjoyment.

Sports247 reports that the accolades came from the honorary consul of Colombia to Nigeria, Mrs Maricel Cantillo, who noted that the diplomats’ football competition provided values of sportsmanship and unity that are provided at the ongoing FIFA World Cup.

Cantillo noted that the competition in Abuja symbolised the World Cup, which Canada is co-hosting alongside United States of America and Mexico, in what becomes the first time three countries will stage the Mundial together.

She added that her country was happy to be part of the event that provided an opportunity for diplomats, families, friends, journalists and participating teams to celebrate the unifying power of football in a recreational manner.

The honorary consul also praised the organisers for promoting gender equality and inclusion through the mandatory participation of female players in every team, which she said made the event much more exciting and commendable.

“I would like to highlight the fact that every team had two female players, and you were not allowed to swap a female player for a male. That sets a strong motion towards making sure that we have slots secured for women at all levels.

“It also allowed us to enjoy and celebrate the beauty of football, which is a fantastic sport that brings us together. The matches were fantastic, the teams showed great energy, and there were no issues. It was a very exciting day.

“It is an opportunity for togetherness, closeness, enjoyment and to continue promoting the beauty of football. Everybody played on a very positive note, bringing out the beauty of teams, communities and friends that we all are,” Cantillo submitted.

News

ADC candidates reject Adamawa LG election results, demand fresh poll

Published

32 minutes ago

June 22, 2026

Preport

The chairmanship and councillorship candidates of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), who participated in the June 13, 2026, local government election in Adamawa State, have rejected its outcome.

Describing the election as a charade, the candidates are calling for a fresh poll.

The election in question produced chairmen-elect of the state’s 21 local government areas and councillors-elect for 226 wards, all from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Addressing journalists in Yola, the candidates alleged that the exercise conducted by the Adamawa State Independent Electoral Commission (ADSIEC) lacked the basic ingredients of credibility.

One of the candidates, Abubakar Ahmadu, who spoke for all the candidates, said, “We wish to state emphatically that elections did not hold in all the local government councils across the state on June 13, 2026. We therefore wonder how results were concocted and how winners emerged.”

Ahmadu alleged that the announced results did not reflect the will of the people and could not be accepted.

“The purported conduct of the Adamawa council poll represents the height of electoral banditry,” he declared.

The ADC candidates called on democracy advocates and constitutional rights groups to intervene and defend democratic principles in the state.

Insisting that they do not recognise the announced winners, the ADC candidates demanded that ADSIEC fix a new date for a credible, transparent and inclusive local government election across Adamawa State.