UPDATE : As of 12 January 2022 Apple has fixed this surety issue in iOS 15.2.1 . Read more iniOS 15.2.1 update close vital gap in HomeKit – instal now .
Apple ’s home base mechanization system of rules HomeKit contains a bug that could allow for passing annoying frivolity , and could even make your iPhone to become unuseable .
Security researcherTrevor Spiniolas(via9to5Mac ) found the bug , which can cause an iPhone or iPad to stop responding to birdsong and freeze all in all . The germ , like so many others , ask a feature that does n’t check an input before sue it .
In this case , it refer the renaming of devices supply to the place via the Home app or another HomeKit app . HomeKit does n’t check the length of the name , and entering an extremely long string of text – we ’re speak somewhere in the area of 500,000 fibre – freezes not only HomeKit or the Home app , but the entire organization .
Worse , because HomeKit accessories are add to your iCloud account and partake to all your devices , the glitch spreads to all devices where you ’re log into the same account .
In iOS 15.1 , Apple fixed the domicile app so that you ca n’t enter such long public figure . But the issue has n’t been fully make out with : in iOS 15.1 and even in 15.2 , nothing prevents other HomeKit - connected apps from triggering the misdeed .
Someone who wants to make life abject for others can make a nursing home that includes an accoutrement with an highly long name , then share an invitation to the home base . If the recipient role accepts the invitation , their gimmick will become unusable .
It ’s not even potential to reinstall iOS and load a backup to get rid of the microbe because the around the bend name is link to the iCloud account , not that particular gadget .
How to avoid the bug
If you ’ve turned off the HomeKit features in Control Centre , the effect will be milder . The Home app will halt working , but the rest of the system will still be usable .
Until Apple fixes the hemipteron , we recommend that you do not take any invitation to the Home app .
This article in the first place appeared onMacworld Sweden . Translation ( usingDeepL ) and additional coverage by David Price .
