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A Text Message Can Crash An iPhone and Force It To Reboot

Posted by Soulskill on from the easy-way-to-get-your-kids-to-put-the-phone-down dept.

DavidGilbert99 writes with news that a bug in iOS has made it so anyone can crash an iPhone by simply sending it a text message containing certain characters. "When the text message is displayed by a banner alert or notification on the lockscreen, the system attempts to abbreviate the text with an ellipsis. If the ellipsis is placed in the middle of a set of non-Latin script characters, including Arabic, Marathi and Chinese, it causes the system to crash and the phone to reboot." The text string is specific enough that it's unlikely to happen by accident, and users can disable text notification banners to protect themselves from being affected. However, if a user receives the crash-inducing text, they won't be able to access the Messages app without causing another crash. A similar bug crashed applications in OS X a few years ago.

4 of 248 comments (clear)

  1. I am amazed by fustakrakich · · Score: -1, Troll

    Simple text can execute a program?

    --
    “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  2. But Macs "just work", right? by spiritplumber · · Score: -1, Troll

    I'm genuinely confused as to why people keep buying Apple stuff. I can get the same performance for half the price and twice the battery life from a lot of different brands.

    --
    Liberty - Security - Laziness - Pick any two.
    1. Re:But Macs "just work", right? by BradleyUffner · · Score: -1, Troll

      I'm genuinely confused as to why people keep buying Apple stuff. I can get the same performance for half the price and twice the battery life from a lot of different brands.

      By Spending large amount of money on something you don't have to you "prove" to others that you have large amount of money. See http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Han...

    2. Re: But Macs "just work", right? by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1, Troll

      Wasn't It Android the main ingredient of a botnet half a million strong a couple of years ago?

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)