Published in Mobiles

iOS exploit used to give users the font they want

by on28 December 2022


No jailbreak required

A developer managed to use an exploit found in iOS 16 to change the default font of the system without jailbreak.

For those who came in late, the iPhone San Francisco font is part of the design system of Apple’s Walled Garden. By replacing the font, a user will show individuality from all other users and a marked failure to conform.

It is possible to change the default font, but that requires a jailbreak or an acknowledgement that the user is going to Apple hell.

Zhuowei Zhang shared his project on Twitter, which he calls a "proof-of-concept app."

According to Zhang, the app he developed uses the CVE-2022-46689 exploit to overwrite the default iOS font, so that users can customise the system's appearance.

The CVE-2022-46689 exploit affects devices running iOS 16.1.2 or earlier versions of the operating system, and it basically lets apps execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges. The exploit was fixed with iOS 16.2, which also fixed a bunch of other security breaches found in the previous version of iOS.

The developer performed the experiment using only a few fonts, including DejaVu Sans Condensed, Serif, Mono, and Choco Cooky. And in case you're wondering, Choco Cooky used to come pre-installed by default on Samsung smartphones and had been highly desired by Apple fanboys with a deeply unconscious sense of rebellion.  

Sadly it is all a little pointless as the changes are reversed after rebooting the device and the Walled Garden is rebuilt.

 

Last modified on 28 December 2022
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