Make it rain on tons of smartphones with Geohot’s new root tool [VIDEO]
George Hotz — the mastermind developer who made Sony so mad with his PS3 hacking antics that they pursued legal action — has returned to the scene with another huge development.
This is Towelroot, a root tool that targets a vulnerability found in older versions of the Linux kernel. The vulnerability is said to be in every kernel before the June 3rd patch, so many older phones (and even a ton of newer phones) that have yet to get the latest kernel update might be in for a treat.
The exploit has only been officially tested on a handful of devices so far, with the Verizon Samsung Galaxy S5 being the main benefactor. That said, the exploit is also found to work with the AT&T Galaxy S5, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active, the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (with KitKat) and more. Some users have even reported success with the Sony Xperia SP C5303.
Some devices it reportedly hasn’t worked for is the AT&T Samsung Galaxy S4 with the latest KitKat update, as well as the Moto X with the latest KitKat update. Geohot (the hacker’s nickname) has invited folks to give it a try on their smartphone if they’ve exhausted all other avenues. It doesn’t hurt to try to give it a shot if you’ve been itching for root on your smartphone. The XDA thread with all the information and download link you need is right here. Fingers crossed that it works out for you!
[TowelRoot, Thanks to DroidModderX!]