As you likely know, Verizon and AT&T are the only two carriers in the world who adamantly insist on locking down all flagship phones launched on their networks. It’s usually up to the development community to find a way to unlock the bootloader and achieve root access to such devices.

One of the most prominent members of the development community, known as jcase on the forums and @TeamAndIRC on Twitter, has already achieved root on the Verizon variant of the Moto X. Incidentally, he unlocked the bootloader on my Droid DNA within weeks of its release last year, the first one to be unlocked by the development community. According to a tweet he sent late Tuesday night, he achieved root on the Verizon Moto X belonging to a prominent themer known as @davekover on Twitter.

Just rooted @davekover 's Verizon MotoX — Justin Case (@TeamAndIRC) September 11, 2013

Dave told me that the root was disabled while the phone was still on, so there is still work to be done before permanent root can be achieved. Nevertheless, this is a significant step toward breaking Verizon’s shackles on one of the most eagerly-anticipated phones of the year.

UPDATE: Don’t accept any OTA updates if you want to have root access. Also, the root method should work on all recent Motorola devices, including Verizon’s 2013 Droid lineup.

Don't update your MotoX if you want root — Justin Case (@TeamAndIRC) September 11, 2013

More on this developing story as it becomes available…