It turned out: a single SMS can ruin Android phones

A cybersecurity researcher discovered a critical vulnerability in Android phones, dubbed the "Death SMS," allowing malicious actors to disrupt mobile services or damage devices via a specific text message. This flaw can interrupt ongoing calls, including emergency calls, without any user intervention. The message is processed before reaching the inbox, leaving victims unaware of the cause of their phone's failure. Researcher Mark Blah noted that Google plans to fix this issue in the October 2026 security updates for Android versions 14 to 17, but the vulnerability (CVE-2026-58882) is not mentioned in the October security bulletin, leaving older Android 12 and 13 devices at risk. Testing revealed that sending 20 malicious messages could cause phones to enter reboot cycles, necessitating a factory reset to erase all data. Experts strongly recommend Android users install the latest security updates to protect their devices.