“Text bomb, text bomb, you’re my…” We’ll stop right there.
A software developer has discovered a software bug known as a ‘text bomb’ that can reportedly cause Apple phones and computers to crash with a single message.
The developer in question, Abraham Masri (@cheesecakeufo), posted on Twitter earlier this week about finding a chaiOS bug, including a link that will, if sent to a device, “freeze the recipient’s device, and possibly restart it”.
https://twitter.com/cheesecakeufo/status/953401511429726210
Masri claimed that he released the bug “to get Apple’s attention” and that “Apple needs to take such bugs more seriously”.
https://twitter.com/cheesecakeufo/status/953415041386205185
https://twitter.com/cheesecakeufo/status/953692349623947264
https://twitter.com/cheesecakeufo/status/953692821395066880
Several Twitter users confirmed that their Messages app had crashed after testing the link and that, in some cases, it didn’t function properly afterwards.
https://twitter.com/CloneClasher/status/953411242919636994
https://twitter.com/AMITNKALRA/status/953457604205846528
Security expert Graham Cluley described the bug as “nasty” but said that, thankfully, it is “more of a nuisance than something that will lead to data being stolen from your computer or a malicious hacker being able to access your files”.
Cluley encouraged owners of Apple devices not to try the text bomb out on other Apple users – “you’re not being funny, you’re just being a jerk” – and added that he wouldn’t be surprised if Apple rolled out a security update to fix this particular text bomb in the near future.
Apple has yet to comment on the issue.
