A simple text message containing suspicious looking links could crash your iMessage app, or even crash your iPhone at the worst. The malicious message has already gone viral around the world and is now used as a tool for pranks.
A YouTuber named “vincedes13” has uploaded a video that showcases how a malicious message that is making the rounds, can cause any iPhone to crash. The text message contains an attachment to a large contacts file that is sent via iCloud drive, which renders the iMessage app useless, is mainly noticed in devices running on iOS 9 to iOS 10.2.1 (beta).
According to the video, upon receiving and opening the message and its attachment, the iMessage app freezes and then crashes as soon as the recipient clicks to open the file containing malicious code. The only way to kill the app is by double tapping the home button, entering the multi-tasking app switcher mode and then closing the app down.
However, the iPhone crashes when the user tries to open Messages again, throwing up a white screen. The white screen will be displayed for a few seconds before the iPhone crashes and returns to the Home screen again. Apparently, neither a hard reboot of the device doesn’t resolve the problem, nor does turning the device off and then back on again provide any relief.
Apple is expected to address the issue soon and fix the affected devices via an OTA update.
