Windows Phone has been picking up some steam lately, and with the increased exposure comes some security issues. A WinRumors reader, Khaled Salameh, discovered a vulnerability that leaves Windows Phone OS open to a denial of service attack via SMS. An attacker could disable the device with the DoS attack.
The vulnerability has been reported to Microsoft, but no update or patch has been released yet.
The attack, which isn't device specific, works by simply sending an SMS to a Windows Phone user. The device will reboot and the messaging hub will not work, and it can also be triggered if a user sends a message through Facebook chat or Windows Live Messenger.
Worse, it affects other parts of the operating system as well. If you have a friend pinned as a live tile on your device, and that friend posts a particular message on Facebook, then the live tile will update and cause the device to lock up.
Worse, it affects other parts of the operating system as well. If you have a friend pinned as a live tile on your device, and that friend posts a particular message on Facebook, then the live tile will update and cause the device to lock up.