Web link causes Safari crashes, device reboots on iOS and Mac [u]

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AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2016
A website in circulation as a prank on Safari users is causing the Mac edition of the browser to crash, and iPhones and iPads to reboot, reports said on Monday.




Aptly named crashsafari.co, the site deliberately overwhelms the browser with a self-generating text string in the address bar, according to The Guardian. This can not only force iOS devices to reboot, but lead them to heat up beforehand as their processors struggle to keep up.

Using Google's Chrome browser to visit the site will reportedly avoid crashes or reboots, whether on Android, Mac, or Windows, but still result in serious slowdowns, as well as overheating on Android devices.

The problem is being exacerbated by the use of link shortening services, which can disguise the link.

The site so far appears to be a gag instead of malicious. Other forms of crash-generating code can sometimes by used by hackers as a way of hijacking a device.

Apple devices recovering from a crash or reboot will reportedly function as normal.

Update: According to a follow-up report from iMore, Apple is aware of the crash issue and is looking into a fix.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 19
    aaron sorensonaaron sorenson Posts: 37member
    Funny they make a site to specially mess with Safari because about 2/3 of any site on the net will crash IE.
    lkruppnoivad
     2Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 2 of 19
    thewhitefalconthewhitefalcon Posts: 4,453member
    Safari has backend changes in iOS 9.3 and OS X 10.11.4. Visiting the site on 9.3 just makes Safari pause, then kick back to Springboard. Reload Safari and the tab just shows your favorites. 
    cornchipargonautnoivad
     3Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 3 of 19
    maciekskontaktmaciekskontakt Posts: 1,169member
    And so the fix will be to ban the website and report it? I wonder.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 4 of 19
    maciekskontaktmaciekskontakt Posts: 1,169member
    aaron sorenson said:
    Funny they make a site to specially mess with Safari because about 2/3 of any site on the net will crash IE.
    That's not the war of browsers, but the fact that not well thought features end-up in risks. Do not assume that all people are friendly and one could get compacent. Yes IE has issues so does Google (perhaps even security and that's why some compenies do not allow use of Chrome). All of them have some issues so exposing them is helping to improve. One cannot afford to be as arrogant as Microsoft with IE anymore (like 10-15 years ago). Time to react to exposing failures of ideas and implementations and I bet Apple will take care of this issue.
    aaron sorensonbrian greenredgeminipaargonaut
     4Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 5 of 19
    macky the mackymacky the macky Posts: 4,801member
    AppleInsider said:
    A website in circulation as a prank on Safari users is causing the Mac edition of the browser to crash, and iPhones and iPads to reboot, reports said on Monday.

    Other forms of crash-generating code can sometimes by used by hackers as a way of hijacking a device.
    I think you should show us that code too...
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 6 of 19
    aaron sorensonaaron sorenson Posts: 37member
    maciekskontakt said:
    aaron sorenson said:
    Funny they make a site to specially mess with Safari because about 2/3 of any site on the net will crash IE.
    That's not the war of browsers, but the fact that not well thought features end-up in risks. Do not assume that all people are friendly and one could get compacent. Yes IE has issues so does Google (perhaps even security and that's why some compenies do not allow use of Chrome). All of them have some issues so exposing them is helping to improve. One cannot afford to be as arrogant as Microsoft with IE anymore (like 10-15 years ago). Time to react to exposing failures of ideas and implementations and I bet Apple will take care of this issue.
    I think I could agree with that.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 7 of 19
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    So what.
    gatorguythepixeldoc
     2Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 8 of 19
    volcanvolcan Posts: 1,799member
    The second script is the part that breaks it. The first part is just Google Analytics. The script loops to 100K adding a new URL to the browser history but It doesn't break Firefox which goes to 640K indexes and then throws an exception after the limit is reached. Apparently Webkit doesn't even go to 100K and does not throw a DOM exception on INDEX_SIZE_ERR either.

    Probably discovered by mistake with some bad code with a run away loop.


    edited January 2016
    argonaut
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  • Reply 9 of 19
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,927member
    How do people have to time to find these things out?
    argonaut
     1Like 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 10 of 19
    TedCoctedcoc Posts: 1member
    Nowadays too many public websites try to load innumerous pictures, videos, sound, advertising, etc, etc, etc when one simply connects to the home page. Too much crap trying to be loaded when a connection to one URL is made. Simplification and web design is imperative but looks like we have lost this mentality and now more and more websites are overwhelming all browsers (yes all) when one simply goes to the home page of the website. As tech becomes more complex and need for advertisements is paramount we will continue to suffer with bad web browsing experiences. No going back since the greedy mega corporations control everything on the internet. This prank site is just a very primitive example of how easy it is to overwhelm a web browser; yes all web browsers. Also extremely complex tech means more holes for malware to fill. No going back so the future of the internet looks very dim.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 11 of 19
    sensisensi Posts: 346member
    TedCoc said:
    Nowadays too many public websites try to load innumerous pictures, videos, sound, advertising, etc, etc, etc when one simply connects to the home page. Too much crap trying to be loaded when a connection to one URL is made. Simplification and web design is imperative but looks like we have lost this mentality and now more and more websites are overwhelming all browsers (yes all) when one simply goes to the home page of the website. As tech becomes more complex and need for advertisements is paramount we will continue to suffer with bad web browsing experiences.
    https://www.ampproject.org/
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 12 of 19
    sensisensi Posts: 346member
    aaron sorenson said:
    about 2/3 of any site on the net will crash IE.
    I just love made up stats...
    asdasddiplicationargonaut
     3Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 13 of 19
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,742member
    sensi said:
    TedCoc said:
    Nowadays too many public websites try to load innumerous pictures, videos, sound, advertising, etc, etc, etc when one simply connects to the home page. Too much crap trying to be loaded when a connection to one URL is made. Simplification and web design is imperative but looks like we have lost this mentality and now more and more websites are overwhelming all browsers (yes all) when one simply goes to the home page of the website. As tech becomes more complex and need for advertisements is paramount we will continue to suffer with bad web browsing experiences.
    https://www.ampproject.org/
    And a simple explanation what AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) is. 
    https://searchenginewatch.com/sew/opinion/2430844/google-s-amp-project-what-will-be-the-impact-on-publishers
    sensi
     1Like 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 14 of 19
    TimmyPtimmyp Posts: 1member
    "How do people have to time to find these things out?" By using "real" computers.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 15 of 19
    diplicationdiplication Posts: 609member
    sensi said:
    aaron sorenson said:
    about 2/3 of any site on the net will crash IE.
    I just love made up stats...
    5 out of 6 people would agree!
    freshmakerargonautcnocbui
     3Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 16 of 19
    noivadnoivad Posts: 186member
    maciekskontakt said:
    And so the fix will be to ban the website and report it? I wonder.
    I blocked google-analytics are the router. They don’t need to collect data on me for me to browse anyway.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 17 of 19
    cnocbuicnocbui Posts: 3,613member
    macky the macky said:
    AppleInsider said:
    A website in circulation as a prank on Safari users is causing the Mac edition of the browser to crash, and iPhones and iPads to reboot, reports said on Monday.

    Other forms of crash-generating code can sometimes by used by hackers as a way of hijacking a device.
    I think you should show us that code too...
    ... because we all know Google is so useless no one could ever find it if they looked.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 18 of 19
    Gilliam_Batesgilliam_bates Posts: 198member
    About time someone reported this bug. We've seen it on several occasions, and they all seem to be accidental. Happens not only when max-length of history stack is exceeded, but also if pushed too frequently.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 19 of 19
    aaron sorensonaaron sorenson Posts: 37member
    sensi said:
    aaron sorenson said:
    about 2/3 of any site on the net will crash IE.
    I just love made up stats...
    me too ;)
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
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