Apple has failed to issue a security patch for
avulnerabilitythat couldallow criminals to take control of iPhones using text
messages, say security
researchers.
Apple was
believed to be working on a patch after researchers notified
the firm of a vulnerability in the way the iPhone handles text
messages.
But the researchers,
Charlie
Miller and Collin Mulliner, said Apple had not released a fix
ahead of their demonstration of how the flaw could be exploited at
the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas.
Charlie Miller and Collin Mulliner had agreed to keep details of
the flaw under wraps until the Black Hat conference this week.
Earlier this month, Miller demonstrated at the
Syscan
security conference in Singapore of how to use the vulnerability to
disconnect an iPhone from the network, but he gave no details of
the attack method.
After the Black Hat demonstration, Miller and Mulliner said
hackers could develop software to exploit the vulnerability,
putting more than 20 million iPhone users at risk.
They warned that once exploited, the iPhone flaw could be used
to take control of the devices dialling, web browsing and texting
functions.
Apple has not responded to requests for information about the
iPhone vulnerability.
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