“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”.
? Effective Power is back, baby!
chaiOS bug:
Text the link below, it will freeze the recipient's device, and possibly restart it. https://t.co/Ln93XN51Kq⚠️ Do not use it for bad stuff.
—-
thanks to @aaronp613 @garnerlogan65 @lepidusdev @brensalsa for testing!— Abraham Masri (@cheesecakeufo) January 16, 2018
Masri claimed that he released the bug “to get Apple’s attention” and that “Apple needs to take such bugs more seriously”.
If you're getting a 404, use this link: https://t.co/vs7cK12sRR
Copy it as is. Do not open it in Safari.
Again, please don't use it for bad stuff.— Abraham Masri (@cheesecakeufo) January 16, 2018
The bug I released was to get @Apple's attention. It's just an html file.@Github always hosted jailbreaks (even .ipa files) that might've included malware. I don't understand why you'd ban my account.
Btw, I always report bugs before releasing them.— Abraham Masri (@cheesecakeufo) January 17, 2018
No, I'm not going to re-upload it. I made my point. Apple needs to take such bugs more seriously.
— Abraham Masri (@cheesecakeufo) January 17, 2018
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.
How do I fix this lmfao, my messages app on macOS and iOS keep crashing
— eta son (@CloneClasher) January 16, 2018
ok I sent it to myself on my Mac and now my messages app wont open even after force quitting lol
— Amit Kalra (@AMITNKALRA) January 17, 2018
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.