Flipper Zero function may crash iPhones running iOS 17

iPhones with iOS 17 are vulnerable to Flipper Zero Bluetooth attacks. A security researcher Apple discovers mobile phones may fall victim to recurring Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) triggers. Information taken from: Ars Technica.

According to researcher Jeroen van der Ham, Flipper Zero has a custom firmware called Flipper Xtreme with special function “iOS 17 Lockup Crash”. This feature makes sequential Bluetooth requests to the iPhone until the device crashes. iPads are also vulnerable to attacks.

Although Flipper Zero is not easy to find in Brazil, customized firmware can be downloaded via Discord. This makes the device a greater threat as it can easily be found.

However, this feature does not work on older versions of the operating system. It is likely that there are some structural differences in iOS 17 that make the iPhone susceptible to Flipper Zero interference.

Android and Windows are also vulnerable

BLE is also a loophole in Android mobile phones and Windows computers. Flipper Zero can trigger recurring pairing requests targeting these devices, creating an infinite number of pop-ups.

This ability of Flipper Zero has even been replicated in an app. A developer has made the BLE signal receiver in Android mobile phones serve as a spam agent that can trigger notifications on nearby devices.

However, on Android the solution is very simple. If the user By disabling notifications in the Share with Nearby settings menu, recurring requests are no longer a problem.

How to prevent attacks on iOS 17?

For iPhone owners running iOS 17 who are afraid of being the target of Flipper Zero, The only solution is to turn off Bluetooth.

Now that this loophole has become more popular, it is possible that Apple will develop a solution to prevent the problem – at least prevent system crashes. For now, iOS 17.1 is still vulnerable to attacks and There is no estimate for the release of corrections.