Hackers  at Redmond Pie gave details of an exploit allowing someone to jailbreak version 4.3.4 of Apple iOS (it is important to note that this does not affect the iPad 2 device).

Jailbreaking is a means to circumvent normal security measures in Apple devices like iPhones and iPads.  It allows anyone to use applications not approved by Apple’s App Store – obviously causing great concern to Apple over lost revenue.

“Apple has just pushed out iOS 4.3.4 for the iPhone, iPad and the iPod touch. And thankfully, we have cooked custom PwnageTool bundles which allows you to jailbreak any device (except for iPad 2) running iOS 4.3.4, and at the same time preserve your baseband for an Ultrasn0w unlock later on,” said Redmond Pie’s Uzair Ghani in a blog post.

At the moment, this jailbreak is “tethered”, meaning to take advantage of it, the device must be physically connected to a computer.

“No matter how annoying it may sound, it’s better than having no jailbreak at all,” Ghani said.

This latest in a string of hacks against iOS was releaed Friday, also the day that Apple released a security patch to repair PDF problems in their Safari Browser.

Typically to exploit the  PDF vulnerability, an attacker would distribute a malicious PDF via email, or social networking sites and  a user would unknowingly install malware by opening it.  Attackers would then have access to personal and financial data stored on mobile Apple devices like the iPhone and iPad.  They could even track a users location via the GPS capabilities in these devices.

This latest jailbreak exploit is likely to spur demands for increased vigilance by Apple.  Germany issued a security warning to consumers in the wake of this latest hack release.

Popularity of the iPhone and iPad is only expected to grow.  We can definitely expect more vulnerability exploits in the future.