Apple has recently released iOS 4.3.5 for iPad and iPhone. The recent release is expected to fix security issues that were faced by devices that run on iOS 4.3.4. The iOS 4.3.4 had a major security flaw which was related to certificate chain validation issue while dealing with X.509 certificates. The security flaw allowed an attacker in same network to seize and change the data in sessions that are shielded by SSL/TTS encryption. The attacker was also able to change the X.509 certificate validation. The security issue is resolved by introducing a new improved validation of X.509 certificate chain. The update can be downloaded though iTunes. The iPhone, iPod touch and iPad should be connected to a computer while downloading the update using iTunes.
The update is available for all iOS starting from 3.0 till iOS 4.3.4 for iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 (GSM). The update is also available for all iOS 3.0 till iOS 4.3.4for iPod touch 3rd generation devices and all iOS starting from 3.2 till iOS 4.3.4 for iPad. The recent update has come hardly 10 days after release of iOS 4.3.4. Apple Inc has announced that the recent update is a minor one but very important. The company has provided all instructions to download and apply the update on its website. The update is considered to be important for all devices using older version of iOS as these devices face the security threat due to chain validation issue.
Industry experts have an opinion that the application of the new update does not completely resolve the security issue. The iPhone development team feels that jailbreak tool RedsnoW can still be effective in breaking into devices that have upgraded to iOS 4.3.5. After the application of security patch, the attacker will not have access to the device after rebooting. The attacker will be required to use the RedsnoW again to break into device. The RedsnoW jailbreak tool does not work on iPad 2 because the A5 chip used in iPad 2 does not have iboot or bootrom level exploits yet. So the RedsnoW and other jailbreaking tools such as PwnageTool and sn0wbreeze are not able to use limera1n bootrom to insert the jailbreak in the system.
Apple enthusiasts are eagerly waiting for release of iOS5. The new iOS is expected to offer 200 new features. Users and industry observers think that the new iOS will be far better and bigger than any other existing operating system. The devices equipped with iOS 5 can be set up wirelessly and activated. Users will not be required to plug their devices into computer for validation. The iOS5 devices will receive all updates over the air. The iOS 5 beta version does have security holes than can be exploited for jailbreaking. But since the security issue is already known, Apple has ample amount of time to fix these security issues before finally releasing the iOS 5 to public.
