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A flaw has been found in the Windows Phone operating system that causes the phone’s ‘Messaging’ app to break upon receiving a malicious SMS, CNET News reports.
Once the devious text has been sent to the phone, trying to open your messages will force the device to reboot and prevents the Messaging app from opening. A malicious Facebook chat or Windows Live message will also reportedly trigger the reboot.
The bug seems to affect all Windows Phone devices running version 7.5 (aka Mango), with the only fix found so far apparently being to perform a hard reset and wipe the phone.
The nasty-looking flaw came to light when a tipster explained the bug to WinRumours, which has made a video of the exploit in action. We’ve embedded that video below so you can check it out for yourself.
While the bug is a serious inconvenience, it doesn’t currently appear to compromise any of your personal data.
SMS insecurities aren’t new to Windows Phone — in 2009 hackers found a way to take control of the iPhone using a text message, and exploits for Android devices in the past have allowed ne’er do well texters to temporarily crash phones powered by Google’s mobile OS.
WinRumours says it is working with the tipster to make Microsoft aware of this latest bug, so the Redmond-based software giant can squash it. We’ll let you know more as soon as we hear it — hopefully Microsoft responds swiftly.
What do you make of this text-hackery? Tell us in the comments, or on our Facebook wall.
