A new bug which causes iPhone units to crash has been found. The worst thing about this bug is it lets another user freeze someone's phone using an emoji message.

This works with three-character combination messages, the white flag emoji, the number zero and a rainbow emoji. According to reports, the three-character combination sent via iMessage as a text can also cause Apple's iPhone popular messaging app to freeze up and crash.

This issue was first spotted by Vincent Desmurs, a French iOS developer, and claimed that it seems to affect iPhones running on iOS 8- iOS 10.2. Also, a video by a YouTuber, EverythingApplePro, highlights the exploits on various iPhone devices, as well as ways to work around it.

The bug tested on various iPhones and iPads with software from iOS 8.4 to iOS 10.2. When the three-character combination sent, all units crashed and iMessage immediately becoming unresponsive. As reported by USA TODAY, the emoji also tried to send to an Android phone, but didn't have the same effect.

According to an Independent report, the issue affects iPhone models running older builds of the iOS operating system and the results may depend on the version of Apple's software the recipient is using. There is a popular online theory, which also cited by USA TODAY, saying that when placing the white flag emoji, zero and rainbow emoji in the same line, the iPhone unit tries to put the flag and the rainbow together to create a rainbow flag emoji, but the zero in the middle is interfering and causing the app to crash.

Fortunately, the bug's effect is only temporary, and affected iPhones should continue to operate as normal after a minute. For iPhone users, probably, the easiest way to protect your phones is by updating to the latest version of iOS.