Your iPhone files can be accessed by attackers through this iMessage vulnerability

An iMessage security flaw has recently been discovered and it can enable an attacker to read your files on their iPhones without even having physical access to your device.

The vulnerability was brought to light thanks to Natalie Silvanovich, a Google Project Zero researcher. Silvanovich had earlier also discovered an iMessage ‘text’ that could brick your iPhone and couldn’t be eliminated even by hard resets of the device.

The new iMessage threat is valid for devices which run on iOS 12 or later. Silvanovich also produced a concept that displayed how receiving an iMessage text on your iPhone displays leaked bytes of memory from your device to the sender.

Google Project Zero gives vendors a period of 90 days to fix the reported security flaws through a patch before they make the information public. Apple however, took care of this particular issue quickly in their iOS 12.4 update.

Apple devices are known for their focus on the security premise and are even occasionally termed uncrackable. However this incident is a reminder that this isn’t true now, irrespective of whether it ever was in the past.