An iOS bug allows you to block the iPhone Messages app, just by sending an attachment.
There are only a few hours left until the end of the year, the moment when our phones will start ringing in unison with messages of congratulations.
But before opening all the messages and reading the usual congratulations and jokes, you should be careful; especially if you use an iOS device. A new newly discovered bug can leave us without the possibility to read more messages.
This is how easy it is to block the iPhone Messages app
The attack, which is already being used by some wanting to tease, is absurdly simple; It just consists of sending a normal message, and adding a file as an attachment, a huge list of contacts.
And when I say huge, I mean so big that the iPhone is not capable of swallowing it whole. It is basically the problem, that iOS will probably have to analyze the file, check the contacts, compare them with the ones it has stored, etc; Although actually the file is not * that * big, we are talking about many lines to parse.
The effects are instantaneous; as soon as the user clicks on the message to open the attached file, the application is completely blocked. We can’t do anything, not even type on the keyboard.
A bug that comes at the worst time
Fortunately, what we can do is close the app using the iOS multitasking manager; However, that is not the end of our problems. The device will work normally, but as soon as we try to open the Messages app, we will only see a white screen.
In effect, this method has loaded the Messages app, and there is no way to get it back. Even if we restart the device, or turn it off and turn it on again, it won’t do any good.
The only solution is for Apple to release an update, but that may go on; considering that the company has not yet confirmed that the bug exists.
