> Type two crashes indicate that the chain of events set off by invoking copyGifFromPath:toDestinationPath:error ultimately crashed while invoking CoreGraphics’ functionality for decoding JBIG2-encoded data in a PDF file.
The usual suspects. I don't know why it isn't possible to deactivate media parsing in the phone's text messaging app, as the vulnerabilities seem to always be found in those. How often do people send PDF/PSD files by text message?!
Writing the iMessage parser in a memory safe language is a step towards a "new paradigm" [0], but more can and should be done by a company Apple's size.
[0]: https://googleprojectzero.blogspot.com/2021/01/a-look-at-ime...
Also Apple is notorious on their bad bounties and on have a bad history on providing researchers with unlocked devices for testing, probably Google found more security bugs in iOS then Apple.
If the NSO Group has been active for a number of years, couldn't Apple make an effort to purchase their products (through some third party, perhaps) and then reverse-engineer the vulnerabilities?
However I also don't think that this can fully solve the problem - if a government creates a sufficiently funded black hat operation (or outsources it to someone like NSO, which is effectively the same thing), it's inevitable that they will find a 0-day sooner or later.
This is going off topic a bit, but I honestly don't know what the solution to this is. The pragmatic truth is that anyone who is a big enough target that it would be worth for a hostile entity to spend a couple million to intercept their communication should assume at all times that their devices are compromised.
"I don't have to outrun the bear, I only have to outrun you."