While iOS 9.3 fixed a bug that bricked iOS devices when the date was set to 1st Jan 1970, security researchers have found a variation on the theme that can remotely brick later devices as soon as they connect to a WiFi hotspot. The exploit uses a combination of two weaknesses discovered in iOS, reports KrebsonSecurity.
The first is that iOS devices automatically reconnect to known WiFi hotspots, but rely on the SSID to identity them. iPhones and iPads will auto-connect to a malicious WiFi hotspot that spoofs the name of a known one.
Second, iOS devices are programmed to constantly check that their time and date settings are correct by connecting to Network Time Protocol (NTP) servers. All the researchers had to do was create their own WiFi hotspot labelled ‘attwifi’ (as used by Starbucks) and their own NTP server pretending to be time.apple.com to deliver the 1st January 1970 date …
more…Filed under: iOS Devices Tagged: 1970 date bug, 1970 date bug wifi, iOS 9.3
