Apple, Mac, MacOS, iOS4, iPad, iPhone and (in)security...

Apple has confirmed that it is working on a bug fix that will stop apps like Messages from crashing when they attempt to display a Unicode symbol representing a letter from the south Indian language of Telugu.

The Unicode-based bug has been exploited by juvenile pranksters, who posted app-crashing messages on Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook, or even changed their screenname to one which contained the symbol.

The symbol, which I won’t repeat here for fear of crashing readers’ apps (trust me.. while writing this article I managed to bork my browser once at twice), can cause iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches and even Apple TV devices to endlessly reboot themselves if received in a notification. If you’re curious there’s a good write-up about it on Mozilla engineer Manish Goregaokar’s blog.

One security researcher demonstrated that it was possible to make macOS network applications crash by creating a Wi-Fi hotspot which included the offending symbol.

 

Learn more / En savoir plus / Mehr erfahren:

 

https://www.scoop.it/t/apple-mac-ios4-ipad-iphone-and-in-security/?&tag=Telugu+Character

 

https://www.scoop.it/t/apple-mac-ios4-ipad-iphone-and-in-security/?&tag=iOS

 

https://www.scoop.it/t/apple-mac-ios4-ipad-iphone-and-in-security