PwnageTool

PwnageTool is a iOS jailbreak tool for Mac OS X that jailbreaks by creating a custom IPSW. You are allowed to change boot logos and add pre-installed packages to the IPSW. After an IPSW is created you can use it to restore to in iTunes.

Exploits Used

Version 4.0

• Bootrom exploit (used by limera1n and greenpois0n)

Version 2.0

• Pwnage 2.0
• Pwnage

Version 1.0

• Pwnage
• Ramdisk Hack

Models Supported

Model	Since
iPhone 2G	April 3, 2008
iPod touch 1G	April 3, 2008
iPhone 3G	Jul 19, 2008
iPod touch 2G	Oct 2, 2009
iPhone 3GS	Oct 2, 2009

Note that the iPod touch 3G and subsequent devices are not supported. With the iPod touch 2G and iPhone 3GS you must be jailbroken prior to using PwnageTool. The S5L8900 devices you can go into DFU Mode and restore with iTunes without being jailbroken.

Versions

PwnageTool was released April 3, 2008 but largely unused until version 2.0 was released July 19, 2008. The following versions that are shown here are not beta, alpha, or in development.

1.x: First release of PwnageTool

Version	Release date	Features
1.1.4	April 3, 2008	Initial release Jailbreaks 1.1.4 firmware Supports iPod touch 1G and iPhone 2G. Add BootNeuter in the IPSW to unlock iPhone 2G.

2.x: Second major release of Pwnagetool

Version	Release date	Features
2.0	Jul 19, 2008	Added iPhone 3G support [1] Jailbreaks 2.0 Firmware Change boot logos Adds Cydia by default
2.0.1	Aug 4, 2008	Jailbreaks 2.0.1 firmware Works for 2.0 and 2.0.1.
2.0.2	Aug 21, 2008	Jailbreaks 2.0.2 firmware [2] Works for 2.0, 2.0.1, and 2.0.2. Bug fixes - for when it doesn't go to the next page when you click on something.
2.0.3	Aug 25, 2008	Jailbreaks 2.0.2 firmware Works for 2.0, 2.0.1, and 2.0.2.
2.1	Sep 13, 2008	Jailbreaks 2.1 firmware Removed backwards compatibility Download packages from a valid Cydia source, and add them onto your custom IPSW.
2.2	Nov 21, 2008	Jailbreaks 2.2 firmware
2.2.5	Jan 30, 2009	Jailbreaks 2.2.1 Not updated by iPhone Dev Team but made official.

3.x: Third Major Release of PwnageTool

Version	Release date	Features
3.0	Jun 19, 2009	Jailbreaks 3.0 firmware DFU mode instructions included
3.1	Sep 15, 2009	Jailbreaks 3.1 firmware for iPhone 2G and 3G Jailbreaks 3.1.1 firmware for iPod touch 1G
3.1.3	Oct 2, 2009	Support for iPhone 3GS with iBoot-359.3 bootrom and iPod touch 2G with iBoot-240.4 bootrom (these devices need to be pwned from 3.0/3.0.1)
3.1.4	Oct 13, 2009	Jailbreaks 3.1.2 firmware for iPhone 2G, 3G, 3GS with iBoot-359.3 bootrom, iPod touch 1G, iPod touch 2G with iBoot-240.4 bootrom iPod touch 3G not supported.
3.1.5	Feb 7, 2010	Jailbreaks 3.1.3 firmware for devices supported in 3.1.4.

4.x: Fourth Major Release of PwnageTool

Version	Release date	Features
4.0	Jun 22, 2010	Jailbreaks 4.0 firmware for devices supported in 3.1.4.
4.01	Jun 23, 2010	Fixes iBooks issue in 4.0
4.1	Oct 20, 2010	Jailbreaks 4.1 firmware for Apple TV 2G, iPad 1G, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS (both bootroms), iPhone 4, iPod touch 3G, and iPod touch 4G.
4.1.1	Oct 22, 2010	Fixes issues with Leopard.
4.1.2	Oct 22, 2010	Fixes more issues with Leopard.

Creating the Firmware

PwnageTool takes the IPSW file and patches it, creating a custom version. This enables a lot more features such as pre-installed packages, BootNeuter (iPhone software unlock), custom packages and boot logos. This method is usually less secure than the quick exploits such (redsn0w, QuickPwn, purplera1n, blackra1n, etc.).

How to create Custom Firmware Bundles

Following steps are needed:

1. Copy an existing bundle as a template
2. Decrypt IMG3 KBAGs and put the keys into Info.plist - usually using an AES payload
3. Use GenPass with decrypted ramdisk to get the rootfs vfdecrypt key, put the key and rootfs volume name into Info.plist
4. Unpack NOR files, ramdisk and kernelcache using AES Keys, apply patches (for minor upgrades, you can apply byte pattern-based patches from previous version, so you don't have to use IDA for every file)
5. Patch ASR from the Restore Ramdisk, use codesign or ldid to fix up its code page hashes.
6. Use bsdiff to create diffs by diffing unpacked original versus patched files. iPod touch 2G and iPhone 3GS utilize a different bootrom exploit, so the encrypted LLB for these devices need patching, using the xpwntool option "-x24k" (for iPod touch 2G) or "-xn8824k" (for iPhone 3GS) to patch the file.

(from here: question and answer)

Problems

This method does have negative aspects. The most common errors are the 16xx range of errors, which mean that the either the firmware file is corrupt or you didn't put it in the right mode (Recovery, DFU Mode). Sometimes the problems could just be a computer problem such as the memory is full or the USB port is broken. The most common error is Error 1604 which means that the firmware file is corrupt.

Windows

PwnageTool is expected to remain exclusive to Mac OS X. As of October 2009, iH8sn0w, et. al. has announced that they made a project that will bring PwnageTool's functionality to Windows, called sn0wbreeze. [3]

License

PwnageTool is freeware.