Messenger crashes with a specific message

It happens again and again that certain messages like links or emojis cause the popular Messenger WhatsApp to crash. Now, a certain string of characters in the form of a harmless link causes massive problems. If WhatsApp users call this up or even set it as their status, the app suddenly crashes for reasons that are yet to be clarified. Even after restarting the messenger, the problem may persist once the corresponding chat is opened.

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The actually inconspicuous link is wa.me/settings. Usually, this short link takes the user directly to the WhatsApp settings. According to hacker and engineer BruteBee, who noticed the bug, there appears to be a problem resolving the physical link behind the short link. The mobile applications of the WhatsApp messenger are affected by the crash.

According to BruteBee, WhatsApp Business is also affected by the issue, but the beta version of the messenger appears not to be affected. To get around this problem, the web version of WhatsApp can be used. In the browser, only the corresponding message containing the link should be deleted. After that, WhatsApp will not crash on the phone. The problem seems to mainly occur on phones running Android 12. BruteBee found in tests that several devices from Samsung and Xiaomi are affected. It can be assumed that the Meta messenger launcher will soon provide an update to fix the problem.

source: chip