After jailbreaking your iPhone or iPad, one of the most important things you can do to fortify your device’s security is to change the root password so that unauthorized users won’t be able to SSH into your device and make changes unbeknownst to you.
While you can change your root password via SSH as we showed you in a previous tutorial, it’s also worth noting that you can change your root password with a mobile terminal app on the jailbroken device itself, which is a procedure we’ll be showing you how to do in today’s tutorial.
If you’re ready to learn how you can change your device’s root password with a mobile terminal app on your jailbroken iPhone or iPad, then you should read on to find out how!
Changing an iPhone’s root password on device with mobile terminal
To change your iPhone or iPad’s root password with a mobile terminal app after jailbreaking, simply follow the steps below:
1) Open your favorite package manager app and search for NewTerm 2 (available via the Chariz repository):
2) Download and install it if you don’t already have it installed (this process varies depending on your package manager app):
3) Once installed, launch NewTerm 2 from the Home Screen:
4) In the Terminal interface, enter the following command:
su root
5) You are now asked to enter your root password, so go ahead and do so:
Note: The default root password will be alpine. If this doesn’t work, then your root password was already changed previously.
6) Once entered, tap on the return key.
Note: You will now have root access as indicated by the “root#” in the terminal:
7) Now you will enter the following command:
passwd
8) You are now free to create a new password. Choose one that is at least 5 characters long and type it carefully:
9) Tap on the return key to save it, and you will then be asked to re-enter the same password to confirm:
10) After entering the password a second time, tap the return key again, and you will have successfully saved your new password:
Now that you’ve changed your iPhone or iPad’s root password, you will need to use it any time you SSH into your device to make changes.
Pro tip: write down or save your root password somewhere you’ll remember to look when you need it, as you won’t be able to reset it again unless you remember it in the first place.
That’s all there is to it!
Conclusion
Changing your root password after jailbreaking is an important step to safeguard your handset’s security since the default password is widely known. If you don’t do this, then you leave yourself open to remote attacks that could compromise your device.
Also See: Incredible concept reimagines changing a jailbroken device’s root password
By using the steps outlined above, you can safeguard yourself from such attacks and have peace of mind. Be sure to take advantage of changing your root password after jailbreaking so that you don’t regret it later on.
