ZiPhone guy finds video bug in iPhone that makes it crash

Piergirgio Zambrini, the guy behind the ZiPhone Unlocking Tool, has found a bug in Apple’s video format that crashes the iPhone. A potential crack that hackers can exploit? Hopefully not.

Piergirgio Zambrini, the guy behind the ZiPhone Unlocking Tool, has found a bug in Apple’s video format that crashes the iPhone. Zambrini claims that the bug is also present in the iPod Touch.

According to Forbes:

The bug Zambrini found is in the audio portion of Apple’s video format. Knowing the bug exists, someone could write a program that incorporates the bug into a video file and trigger a crash whenever an iPhone attempts to run that file.

The bug, which is located in a shared code library that is used across most Apple operating systems and some Linux ones as well, doesn’t appear to cause any permanent damage, but immediately sends the device into a panic that leads to a lengthy reboot.

A potential crack that hackers can exploit? Hopefully not. Zambrini himself couldn’t find a way to use the bug for malicious applications yet, but then he also remarks that “We can’t say it’s not possible, this thing needs to be studied a little bit deeper.”

Zambrini is actually trying to get a job in Apple, and the bug hunt is just his latest effort to get Steve Jobs‘ attention. So far, Apple hasn’t gotten back to him yet.

In the meantime, he’s doing pretty well for himself. Thanks to Ziphone.org, he can now charge advertisers US$ 4,000 a month for ads. On his best day, he also received more than US$ 10,000 in donations. Guess hacking does have its perks.

• iPod Touch, iPhone firmware 1.1.3 reported to crash units
• Jobs: iPhone app crash fix in September update

Via Forbes