Researchers have discovered a vulnerability with older iPhones that Apple can't patch.The team at Paradigm Shift, an independent European cybersecurity firm, published its findings on the flaw, which it calls usbliter8, on its blog on Thursday. Researchers exploited flaws in the USB controller and the device's firmware to override the boot process (when the phone turns on) and gain control of the device before iOS loads, and even run unauthorized software.
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The issue exists within SecureROM, the code that runs when an iPhone turns on, which is embedded in certain chips. Apple can't fix these flaws, as the code can't be extracted from the chips. Paradigm Shift reported the vulnerability to Apple before publishing it.
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The impacted chips are A12 and A13. Here are the impacted iPhone models with A12 and A13 chips, as reported by AppleInsider: iPhone 11iPhone 11 ProiPhone 11 Pro MaxSecond-generation iPhone SEiPhone XRiPhone XSiPhone XS MaxS4 and S5 chips, which power some iPad and Apple Watch models, are also affected. Here are the impacted models, according to AppleInsider:
