Flipper Zero remains to be a menace to iPhone customers.
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET
The Flipper Zero is an incredible gadget, particularly contemplating the $169 price ticket, however as wonderful as it’s, I am blown away by the truth that it might to crash an iPhone.
A number of readers have contacted me eager to know if the newest iOS 17.1.1 replace fixes the denial of service (DoS) assault that was made attainable utilizing the Flipper Zero loaded with third-party software program.
The reply, in keeping with my assessments, remains to be no, however one thing has modified.
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So, previous to iOS 17.1.1, you might use the Flipper Zero to flood an iPhone that was inside Bluetooth vary with popups and notifications, or you might select an assault that might push so many popups and notifications that it will lock up the iPhone after a few minutes.
The Apple Machine Popup assault that’s a part of the BLE Spam app on the Flipper Zero is not purported to crash the iPhone, however now it does.
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET
Now issues are totally different.
Primarily based on testing that I’ve achieved, iOS now appears to throttle the variety of popups which might be displayed, making the assault much less annoying and distracting. Popups nonetheless seem, however not on the frequency that they had been beforehand displayed.
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Nevertheless, there’s additionally dangerous information, and that’s that regardless of the popups seemingly being throttled, now all of the Bluetooth assaults the Flipper Zero can generate can lock up the attacked iPhone strong, requiring a reboot. Beforehand solely an assault particularly designed to lock up an iPhone might obtain this.
iPhone 14 Professional Max operating the newest iOS 17.1.1 locked up strong.
Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET
So, the Flipper Zero BLE (Bluetooth Low Vitality) spam assault is each much less annoying in that there are fewer popups, however it’s additionally more likely to crash the iPhone and lock it as much as the purpose the place it wants a reboot to return again to life.
I am nonetheless hopeful that Apple will nonetheless discover a option to patch the iPhone to forestall these assaults.