This Flaw In iMessage Can Cause iPhones To Crash

Aadhya Khatri - Jul 08, 2019

Project Zero recently reported a defect in iMessage that can cause Apple devices to crash. Fortunately, the company has already fixed it

Project Zero belongs to Google and what it does is to find flaws in other companies’ software and then give them 90 days to patch before telling the public about the defect. The latest reveal of this project involves Apple, with a flaw in iMessage that would cause iPhones to crash. This defect has been fixed as we speak.

imessage-defect-crash — The latest reveal of this project involves Apple with a flaw in iMessage that would cause iPhones to crash

In an issue tracker post, Project Zero revealed that it found out about this defect in April, and it had informed Apple about it. This problem could also have an impact on macOS. The worst scenario is the system would crash as a result of this defect.

Even if the owner rebooted the device, the issue would still survive and show its effect right after the device was unlocked. So if Apple left the problem unattended, the device would have to be wiped clean to be able to work normally again.

iphone-defect-springboard — On iPhone, the code was in Springboard

The defect would make soagent to respawn and crash on a Mac; while on iPhone, the code will cause Springboard to respawn and crash repeatedly. After that, the phone would not respond to input anymore. A hard reset cannot do anything to fix this defect, and the phone would be unusable as long as it was unlocked.

Fortunately, Apple had fixed this flaw before the public knows about it through Project Zero’s report. The patch is in iOS 12.3 introduced back in May.