Apple fixes Safari crash search bug

Image copyrightApple

Image captionThe Safari fault appears to be affecting a range of Apple's devices

Apple believes it has fixed a problem that caused its Safari web browser to crash when users carried out a search via its address bar.

The problem appears to have begun earlier in the day.

Users had complained that they had experienced the bug on both the firm's mobile devices and its Mac computers.

Apple recently updated its iOS and OS X operating systems, but users who had not installed the new versions had also reported the fault.

This would suggest that the immediate cause was a process happening at Apple's data centres. However, some experts have suggested that an additional flaw in Safari itself may have led to the program crashing as it was unable to handle the invalid input.

Apple has not provided a comment about the fault.

But the BBC understands that the fix may take some time to go through for everyone.

Users can, however, speed up the process by clicking on the "clear history and website data" in Safari's preferences.

The issue only impacted people whose "suggestions cache" had updated while they were using the phone between 09:00 GMT and 12:00 GMT.

As a result, Europe-based device owners were more likely to have been affected than those in Asia or the US.

Malicious link

Earlier in the week, it emerged that a web link had gone viral that forced Safari to crash.

The page the browser was sent to used JavaScript to put the software into a loop forcing it to fail.

Image copyrightTwitter

Image captionSafari users have complained about the problem on Twitter

However, the more recent problem appears to have been much more widespread, and was replicated by the BBC.

Apple revealed on Tuesday that there are about one billion of its core devices in use.

The vast majority of those may have been affected, although the number also includes its set-top TV boxes and smartwatches, which do not use the browser.

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Sketchy Website Causes iPhones to Crash and Reboot

If the effective power bug taught us anything, it’s that something as simple as a text message can crash your iPhone. Now, there’s an even easier way to cause your phone to shit itself.

The site www.crashsafari.com was created to do exactly what the URL promises: With just four lines of code, the site runs a script that’s able to crash the iPhone’s default browser. (DO NOT CLICK THAT LINK!) The script adds thousands of characters per second into the browser’s address bar, overloading the browser’s memory, heating up the phone, and eventually forcing the iPhone to reboot.

Android devices and other iOS products experience similar problems. If you click the link on Android phone, it begins heating up after about 20 seconds and has problems completing basic commands. Quitting Chrome can stop the problem, but in many cases, a full reboot is the most effective way to deal with the bug.

The bug is equally effective on desktop and laptops. The site runs the exact same script on all versions of Chrome and Safari, overwhelming the browsers with code and causing them to crash. In most cases, you won’t be required to reboot your desktop or laptop because they’re better at dealing with overheating issues than popular smartphones.

Although the link appears to be growing in popularity, a WhoIs lookup indicates that the site was registered on April 29, 2015. Its creator is anonymous according to the registrar information. 

The crash safari i prank is similar to a Google Chrome bug we reported on last year. In that instance, the URL was not nearly as memorable and directed users to an open bug ticket on Chromium. The developer that found the Chrome bug revealed it to highlight how easily links can be proliferated. Keep that in mind while you’re spamming your friends with www.crashsafari.com.

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