What Happened to Evasi0n.com?

Evasi0n was considered an incredibly sophisticated iPhone jailbreak

One of the most popular jailbreaking tools ever released is the Evasi0n Jailbreak, which was available through Evasi0n.com. However, this website is no longer available, and its jailbreak tool is also no longer being updated. We took some time to find out what happened.

Jailbreaking vs Unlocking

Although some people use the terms jailbreaking and unlocking interchangeably, the two words do not mean the same thing. Perhaps the only fundamental similarity between the two processes is that they both give iOS users better control over their devices than Apple would prefer.

Unlocking a phone means allowing it to work with other network providers. Various ways to unlock iPhones were available and working at different times – including software- and hardware-based unlocks. People often unlock phones because this comes with certain conveniences, such as having the ability to use the best network when they are traveling. On the other hand, jailbreaking an iPhone means a process of changing the phone’s firmware so that it can install software which is not approved by Apple. Users often jailbreak their iPhones so that they can access third-party apps which are not available on the iTunes App Store.


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The History of Evasi0n.com

Evasi0n Jailbreak logo

Some people may not like the feeling that their device’s manufacturer is always hovering over them, deciding what they can and cannot install on their device. Apple’s restrictions have been criticized by some, sometimes leading to litigation. Hence the popularity of websites like Evasi0n.com and the tools they provide. Evasi0n.com was the brainchild of a group of hackers who called themselves Evad3rs.

The Evasi0n jailbreak software was released on 4 February 2013. Four days later, it had been downloaded more than 7 million times. Upon the release of Evasi0n, Cydia, a third-party app store frequented by users of jailbroken Apple devices was clocking as many as 14,000 requests per second.

On 18 March 2013, Apple quickly patched up four of the six exploits used to create the jailbreak through its release of iOS 6.1.3. However, in December 2013, Evasi0n released a new version of the jailbreak that supported subsequent versions of iOS 7.

How Evasi0n Worked

Evasi0n was able to find exploits in iOS codes which overcame Apple’s steely defenses even in their newest devices. David Wang, one of the four original Evad3rs, spoke openly with tech journalists about the jailbreak and even publicly explained the entire process.

Screenshot of the Evasi0n Jailbreak in action

The jailbreaking process started with Evasi0n first running the libimobiledevice, an iTunes substitute designed to communicate with iOS devices through the same protocol as Apple’s program. Using this tool, Evasi0n would then exploit a bug in iOS’s mobile backup system to gain access to specific settings.

Once it had access to an iPhone, Evasi0n would then perform a series of alterations, including making the root file system writable. It could then write any part of the Kernel, giving the tool unfettered access to the system. The success of the jailbreaking tool was primarily based on five distinct bugs in the iOS code.

Although it is a rather technical process, the Evasi0n jailbreak became one of the most popular untethered jailbreaks in history. It gave users the freedom to modify all their iOS devices, together with free and easy access to a load of Cydia apps and tweaks.

Issues with Evasi0n.com

iPhone running Cydia

As popular as it was, the Evasi0n jailbreak was not without problems. For instance, some users reported the jailbreaking process “freezing” midway through the process or taking incredibly long periods to run.

Other users reported that they didn’t have access to their Cydia accounts after the jailbreaking and that the My Accounts page was not visible after the process. Some users also said that their devices launched into an endless reboot loop or that their devices got stuck at the Apple logo.

So What Happened to Evasi0n.com?

Apple is known for its iOS updates that effectively patch some of the bugs that tools such as Evasi0n exploited. Evasi0n even managed to work on newer devices by utilizing Apple devices’ time zone configurations within the Date and Time settings. However, Apple fixed this vulnerability with the release of iOS 6.1.3.

In 2014, Forbes reported that the end of the jailbreaking era was near. When Apple released iOS 7, Evasi0n updated its original jailbreaking tool to accommodate the updates. However, the subsequent release of iOS 7.1 meant that the days of the Evasi0n tool were effectively numbered. Even the Evad3rs agreed that some of the vulnerabilities would not be present in subsequent iOS updates, which effectively meant that the jailbreaking tool would not work.

Reports in related forums indicated that the Evad3rs went on to focus on other projects. Unconfirmed reports even suggest that Apple later employed one of the Evad3rs. Notwithstanding the speculation, it is clear that the Evad3rs eventually gave up on updating Evasi0n.com.

Jailbreaking Tools that Replaced Evasi0n.com

Evasi0n.com may be gone, but other jailbreaks have since stepped up to provide even newer jailbreaks. One such jailbreak is Unc0ver, a jailbreak developed by a team known as @pwn20wnd. Reports indicate that this was the first public jailbreak released for iOS 12 – iOS 12.1.2.

Pangu8 also came out later with popular jailbreaks for iOS 7.1. A team of senior Chinese security officials developed this jailbreak. They have since released several versions of untethered jailbreaks, including jailbreaks for iOS 8, 8.1, 9, 9.1 – 9.3.3. According to Pangu8.com, they even developed an Apple TV jailbreak for tvOS 9.0 and 9.0.1.

The TaiG Jailbreak Tool is another intuitive application that allows users to gain root access to their iOS devices. Users can then easily jailbreak their devices without interfering with the device’s communication capabilities. The main advantage of this jailbreak is that you don’t need to connect to a computer to install it. However, like any other jailbreak, once used on your device, the device’s warranty is invalidated.

Other popular jailbreaks currently in the market include Electra and Yalu iOS 10 Jailbreak. The availability of so many jailbreaking tools implies is that the era of jailbreaking may not yet be over.

Alex Pico Zapata
I’ve been working as a programmer for over 2 decades now… And at some point, while writing code for work, I started signing it with PICOZIP (stands for Pico Zapata Intellectual Property, I thought it was funny).