Flipper Zero can nonetheless crash iPhones working the newest model of iOS 17

In September, 9to5Mac reported that Flipper Zero, a well-liked and low-cost hacking device, was getting used to wreak havoc on close by iPhones and iPads, spamming them with pretend Bluetooth pop-ups till they ultimately crashed.

Regardless of many iOS 17 updates since, together with final week’s launch of recent iOS 17.2 betas, Apple has but to implement safeguards to stop the assault. So, what provides?

Flipper Zero assault utilizing iPhone Bluetooth exploit

Out of the field, you’ll discover that Flipper Zero is usually a fairly innocent machine. It’s offered as a conveyable multi-tool for penetration testers and hobbyists that may be programmed to regulate a number of radio protocols.

Nevertheless, because the firmware is open supply, it may be modified with new software program that turns it right into a low-orbiting ion cannon for dangerous actors to level at unsuspecting victims.

First identified by safety researcher Techryptic, Ph.D., when extra software program is loaded onto the Flipper Zero, it could possibly then carry out Denial of Service (Dos) assaults, spamming iPhones and iPads with an awesome quantity of Bluetooth connection notifications that trigger the units to freeze up for minutes after which reboot.

The assault makes use of a Bluetooth Low-Vitality (BLE) pairing sequence flaw. Apple makes use of a number of BLE applied sciences in its ecosystem, together with AirDrop, HandOff, iBeacon, HomeKit, and many to do with Apple Watch.

A outstanding characteristic of BLE is its means to ship promoting packets, or ADV packets, to establish native units on iPhones and iPads. It’s thanks to those packets, that actions comparable to pairing new AirPods are performed with a slick animated pop-up on the underside half of the machine.

Sadly, these ADV packets may be spoofed, and that is what hackers are benefiting from…with the assistance of a Flipper Zero.

Defending in opposition to Flipper Zero assault

Flipper Zero has an okay-ish Bluetooth radio vary of about 50 meters (~164 toes), which implies pulling off DoS assaults would require hackers to be shut however far sufficient to wreak havoc on espresso retailers and sporting occasions with out being detected.

What’s most alarming about this assault is there’s no real looking strategy to shield your self but. The one factor customers can do to not fall sufferer is to disable Bluetooth in Settings. Clearly, this extraordinarily limits performance and could be reenabled by Apple each time you replace to the newest model of iOS.

What’s Apple doing?

For a corporation with probably the greatest safety observe data, Apple has but to acknowledge the BLE flaw that’s being exploited. The explanation might be technical, however many consider Apple just isn’t taking the exploit significantly because it doesn’t pose a large enough menace to customers and/or person privateness. What do you suppose?

In my testing, this assault nonetheless works in opposition to iPhones working iOS 17.2.

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