A malicious 3 second video crashes the iPhone, requires hard reset to restore functionality

iphone-freeze

A malicious short 3-second has been discovered on the web that is causing iPhones and iOS devices to freeze, requiring users to perform a hard reset. Multiple reports claim that a specific MP4 video if played in the Safari browser on any iOS-powered device, slows it down and ultimately crashes the device, requiring users to perform hard reset in most cases.

A YouTube user who goes by the name EverythingApplePro, has put up a link that shows how Safari causes the iPhone to get overload and eventually get locked up after playing a short 3 second video. It seems to be a virus which takes about 20-30 seconds to activate itself, and eventually crashes the device. According to the YouTube user, the only way to fix the issue is to hard reset your device, after which the device restores normal functionality. According to industry experts, the corrupted video causes a memory leak which eventually freezes an iOS device. The video only crashes devices when it’s sent as a link and not as a file transfer. Hence, users are advised to not select any links which they receive from any unknown sources in order to avoid the problem.

Well, this isn’t  the first time that such malicious bugs have been found in iOS. Back in January, Safari started crashing on iPhones and Macs all over the globe due to a software glitch while searching from the address bar. Later in February, Apple released the iOS 9.2.1 update to restore the functionality of devices “bricked” and rendered unusable by the Error 53 pop-up. It showed up during a boot-time check to ensure that the phone’s Touch ID  has not been repaired by any unauthorized personnel. While back in 2015, a bunch of text was causing Apple’s iMessages app on iPhones to freeze, and in some cases – even crashing devices. The issue was however, quickly resolved.

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Allen Parker

Allen Parker

Allen is a qualified writer and a blogger, who loves to dabble with and write about technology. While focusing on and writing on tech topics, his varied skills and experience enables him to write on any topic related to tech which may interest him. You can contact him at allen@pc-tablet.com.

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