Work appears underway for the next Evasi0n iOS jailbreak tool even as Apple is yet to unveil its iOS 7.1.1 replacement - the iOS 8 that is expected to break out of the scene right at the 2014 WWDC in early June.

Thanks to @i0n1c it was proven this week that the latest iOS version is breakable, according to a new report from Redmond Pie. In a Twitter post, @i0n1c showed off a photo of a yellow iPhone 5C that supposedly runs on an unlock iOS 7.1.1.

One clear proof that Apple's mobile platform has been pried open by @i0n1c, who Redmond Pie described as a "well known iOS security researcher," is the presence of Cydia 1.1.9 on the 5C. Cydia, of course, is the hub for jailbreak tweaks and apps and its installation on iPhones or iPads indicate of a successful jailbreak.

In the same tweet, the dev shared that his iOS 7.1.1 jailbreak breakthrough "is not based on a long vulnerability chain. It uses a single beautiful kernel bug that goes from mobile to kernel."

It should be recalled that prior to this 5C jailbreak, the community has been silent immediately after Apple deployed 7.1.1, which the tech giant said had resolved the previous exploits that Team Evad3rs was using as backdoor for its Evasi0n7 unlocker.

Apple even thanked the group for pointing the way to the iOS 7.1 vulnerabilities but in the process the Evad3rs were locked out from further tinkering with the software.

And the group fell silent since then.

Then @Winocm emerged from a brief hiatus and posted a YouTube clip (viewable here) that further proved the iOS 7.1.1 shell is not so tough.

The platform was cracked and @Winocm flashed an iPhone 4GSM to drive home his point that an iOS 7.1.1 untethered jailbreak is quite possible with serious efforts to pour in.

Now the question begs: Will any of the devs go public and share their opus anytime soon?

Redmond Pie thinks it's impractical to expect @i0n1c, @Winocm or the Evad3rs to go out of their way and cook up something that would lead to Evasi0n7 iOS 7.1.1 jailbreak. It's just plain too late for game since the iOS 8 coming out is just a matter of few months or even weeks.

BGR affirms, reasoning that "hackers may be more interested in keeping the vulnerability private until iOS 8 rolls out, so Apple can't quickly patch it up with a following update."

What these samplings seem to signal at the moment, according to Redmond Pie, is the "jailbreak community is well and truly alive, working on finding new exploits that can be potentially used in future jailbreaks."

So the compass for now points to an eventual release date for an iOS 8 jailbreak that should touchdown in the latter part of 2014.