BTW, I have tested the above on other iPhones and these setting changes have worked on all of them. It results in the malicious string being unable to crash them.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
New iOS Bug Crashing iPhones Simply by Receiving a Text Message [Includes Fix]
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
BTW, I have tested the above on other iPhones and these setting changes have worked on all of them. It results in the malicious string being unable to crash them.
Can't wait for tomorrow's headline:
"Man Arrested For Sending Ex-wife Malicious Text Message"
Not sure this is as much of a crime as some may think it might be.
Trust me, if you send this with the intent to crash someone's phone, etc, it is in many US jurisdictions...
And beyond that, if you think the Police here in the US are going to do some nuanced analysis with a screaming B***H on the phone raging about her ex and how he deliberately crashed her electronics, you're dreaming. Guy will be lucky if he only gets arrested and not tazed...
So the bug appears to be in the table view cell used for the preview of the contact (and the last message sent) when you open Messages.
One fix (if it can be called that) is to send a message to every contact who you have sent it to or who has sent it to you so the last message sent to or from them is not the offending message, I was able to do this from Messages on my mac. This then allows Messages on my phone to open correctly.
One fix (if it can be called that) is to send a message to every contact who you have sent it to or who has sent it to you so the last message sent to or from them is not the offending message, I was able to do this from Messages on my mac. This then allows Messages on my phone to open correctly.
I seriously need help!! My messages won't open, they keep crashing! It's been like this for hours! I've tried everything, restarting, texting my self, going in through the contacts and trying to message someone, nothing works!! I don't want to reset my phone bc I have so much pictures and stuff, helppp
My friend sent me this today and my watch received the message and IT crashed. Looks like it doesn't just affect the phone.
Can still do it from the Messages app as well from what I understand. And lock screen notifications, if previews are still enabled.
Hopefully they issue a software update before everyone bricks their phones from pranking each other.
Fixes
If Messages was opened to the conversation list view, the app will crash when you attempt to open it. You can fix this by having someone send you a message or by sending a message to yourself. There are several options for sending a message to yourself, including sending yourself a message via Siri or through the Share sheet in any app.
To send yourself a message in Siri, tell Siri to "Send a message to myself." Siri will open up a dialogue where you can give her a quick message like "Fix" that'll be sent to your iPhone to clear away the malicious message.
Alternatively, you can open an app like Notes, craft a quick note, and use the Share option (the little document with an arrow) to message it to yourself. Sending yourself something though the share sheet of an app opens a new messages window where you can enter your own contact information.
If Messages was opened to the conversation list view, the app will crash when you attempt to open it. You can fix this by having someone send you a message or by sending a message to yourself. There are several options for sending a message to yourself, including sending yourself a message via Siri or through the Share sheet in any app.
To send yourself a message in Siri, tell Siri to "Send a message to myself." Siri will open up a dialogue where you can give her a quick message like "Fix" that'll be sent to your iPhone to clear away the malicious message.
Alternatively, you can open an app like Notes, craft a quick note, and use the Share option (the little document with an arrow) to message it to yourself. Sending yourself something though the share sheet of an app opens a new messages window where you can enter your own contact information.
What was supposed to be a funny prank from me to my younger sister, resulted in a big family argument and my dad calling me an a--hole.
When they eventually have a computer problem remember what they called you. Then just decline to help.
The message contains unicode combining characters.
These are normally used to compose a more complicated one by putting two characters in the same space, i.e. the twiddly bit that goes under. That way Unicode doesn't need to have a code point for every single combination (because some of those are meaningless anyway).
So when rendering / drawing, some version of "go back to where the last character was drawn and put this one there too" happens.
If there are more combining characters than original characters, you might end up walking off the end (or the beginning) of the drawing space or other piece of memory.
Classic out-of-bounds access that Unicode renderers have to be aware of. Complicated by the way the text also needs to be automatically flowed / formatted to the small space provided.
These are normally used to compose a more complicated one by putting two characters in the same space, i.e. the twiddly bit that goes under. That way Unicode doesn't need to have a code point for every single combination (because some of those are meaningless anyway).
So when rendering / drawing, some version of "go back to where the last character was drawn and put this one there too" happens.
If there are more combining characters than original characters, you might end up walking off the end (or the beginning) of the drawing space or other piece of memory.
Classic out-of-bounds access that Unicode renderers have to be aware of. Complicated by the way the text also needs to be automatically flowed / formatted to the small space provided.
But also, keep in mind that they were right. And if you decline to help, you're just proving it.
Have you tried typing something in the Notes app and then sharing it with yourself? That worked for me.