A Single Text Can Disable iOS Messages Forever

One of the beauties of iOS versus other phone operating systems is its relative security and stability versus other earphone operating systems . There just are n’t a flock of jade that can harm an iPhone unless it has been jailbroken or hack byIsraeli cyber weapons dealers . But a new feat will permanently deactivate the Messages app . So prepare to be wary of any text your asshole supporter and co-worker station your way .

This is n’t the first killer schoolbook for iOS . Earlier this yearresearchers at Cisco Talos discovereda bug that killed Messages when the gimmick obtain a malicious TIFF image .

The new effort , unwrap by drudge vincedes3 , is in reality simpler — so simple that it ’s kind of amazing it take on anyone this long to find it . vincedes3 make a ridiculously complex vCard , a type of practical business concern bill of fare you use to share contact on your phone . vincedes3 ’s vCard has 14,281 lines of codification where the average vCard has just around 200 - 300 . When Messages attempts to launch the carte du jour it crash . Restarting the phone or the app does n’t influence because , in an travail to be super helpful , message always tries to start the most late text . It put Messages into a vicious and inescapable cringle .

Image: Alex Cranz/Gizmodo

Image: Alex Cranz/Gizmodo

gratefully vincedes3 is the good form of hacker who merely wishes to maneuver out a major fault in how Messages solve . So the problem can be fixed by openingthis linkon the affected earphone or by sending a text via Siri as instruct in this tweet .

https://twitter.com/embed/status/814417544807378944

The bug presently affects any equipment on iOS 8 through 10 , and there are reports of it also touch Android devices . So if you get a random vCard via your schoolbook app definitely call up twice about open up it .

Argentina’s President Javier Milei (left) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., holding a chainsaw in a photo posted to Kennedy’s X account on May 27. 2025.