Security expert finds a way to crash and restart iPhones and iPads

An expert in cybersecurity named Sabri Haddouche has discovered a way to crash and restart any iPhone or iPad with nothing more than 15 lines of code. He made the announcement via Twitter. The loophole in security can be exploited by a simple webpage which when clicked triggers the lines of code and freezes the browser in macOS, but completely crashes and restarts an iPhone or iPad.

Haddouche went on to explain that his code takes advantage of a particular feature in the module that renders web pages in the iOS operating system. His code would bundle up several elements inside a filter in the CSS, which when selected after a click would completely use up all the resources of the device and cause it to freeze, and eventually restart. What’s interesting is that anything written in HTML that is rendered in iOS is vulnerable to this kind of attack. This means that any seemingly normal webpage or advertisement could be used to house such codes, prompting users to visit it and trigger the code.

Furthermore, it could also be sent as a link through Facebook, Twitter or Gmail. The simplicity and ease of this method of attack are what has raised eyebrows. However, malicious software cannot be sent or serious attacks cannot be carried using this kind of code. Apple, upon being made aware of this reportedly launched their own investigation into the matter.