Apple iOS 8.1.1 Update Kills Pangu Jailbreak Exploit

Apple isn’t wasting any time patching exploits discovered and used by jailbreak tools. The company’s next mobile update -- iOS 8.1.1 -- is expected to eliminate the ability to jailbreak iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches with a tool developed by the Chinese Pangu developer team. The fix was discovered on Tuesday, following the beta version release of iOS 8.1.1 to developers.

After testing the iOS update release with the jailbreak, the Pangu developer team found that it patched flaws that the Pangu software used to give users access to their devices to install tweaks, themes and other apps while bypassing Apple’s App Store.

The team recommended that users looking to jailbreak their devices should upgrade to iOS 8.1 before the release of iOS 8.1.1, expected this month, if they haven’t already. Once Apple releases the software update, users stuck on an older version of iOS won’t be able to upgrade to the jailbreakable iOS 8.1, since the company prevents users from installing anything but the latest version of iOS on their devices.

It's also recommended that users restore their device running iOS 8.1 if it was updated using an over-the-air method instead of through iTunes, since the OTA update method has been known to cause problems with jailbreak software in the past.

As always, users should back up their devices before running jailbreak software or performing any modifications on their iPhones.