December may very nicely be safety month at Apple with the launch of Stolen System Safety, the shuttering of Beeper Mini, and now, the stealthy repair to a Bluetooth exploit that has been wreaking havoc for iPhone and iPad customers since its discovery in September.
Flipper Zero is not any match for iOS 17.2
First identified by ZDNet, 9to5Mac can verify that Apple has lastly applied safeguards in iOS 17.2 to forestall Flipper Zero gadgets from sending close by iPhones and iPads into unending denial of service (DoS) loops.
Out of the field, Flipper Zero is a reasonably innocent pen-testing instrument. Nevertheless, because the system is open supply, it may be modified with third-party firmware (on this case, Xtreme) that gives a Bluetooth Low Vitality (BLE) spam app.
Utilizing a flaw within the BLE pairing sequence, the app can ship close by gadgets an amazing quantity of Bluetooth connection notifications, inflicting them to freeze up and reboot. It’s a course of that takes about 5 minutes, or what I can think about appears like an eternity for an unsuspecting sufferer.
With a radio vary of about 50 meters (~164 toes), menace actors have reportedly used malicious Flipper Zero gadgets to tug off undetected DoS assaults on trains, espresso outlets, and live performance venues.
What may iOS 17.2’s new safeguards be? When working a Flipper Zero in opposition to my very own gadgets, I’ve discovered a number of pesky popups nonetheless seem earlier than fully stopping. This might level to a brand new ship promoting packets (ADV) request timeout Apple has applied. Nevertheless, we might by no means know.
To replace your iPhone or iPad to iOS 17.2, head to Settings > faucet Common > Software program Replace.
