A viral text message that has recently been put into circulation can allegedly freeze and shut down the iPhone of the messages' recipient.

The bug, which occurs when a text is sent to an iPhone regardless of platform, causes the phone's messages app to crash and in some cases force the phone to shut down completely. Apple news blog 9to5Mac reports that if the text is received while the iPhone is on the lock screen, it will reboot without any warning. Other users around the web are reporting even more serious problems.

Fortune magazine has received claims that some users cannot regain access to their messages app until the sender of the malicious text message sends another text which reverses the process. However, the magazine mentions that users affected by this bug can send the remedy text through a different device to unlock their iPhone.

Technology outlets around the web have refrained from posting the text to prevent it from affecting more iPhone owners. TechCrunch posted an official statement from an Apple spokesperson who confirmed that the bugged text message is a 'series of Unicode characters' and that they are working on a fix which will be delivered via software update.

While waiting for a fix, iPhone owners can avoid falling victim to this viral text by unselecting the 'show in lock screen' option in their notification settings and disabling banner notifications.

While not a frequent occurrence, bugs like this have popped up on iOS in the past. In 2013 a similar text string attack caused the Safari app to crash. A user on the online community who goes by the name "sickestdancer98" noted that this current text plaguing users has been present since iOS version 6.