This paper introduces a new chaotic jerk system with three cubic nonlinear terms. The stability properties of the three equilibrium points of the proposed jerk system are analyzed in detail. We show that the three equilibrium points of the new chaotic jerk system are unstable and deduce that the jerk system exhibits self-excited chaotic attractors. The bifurcation structures of the proposed jerk system are investigated numerically, showing period-doubling, periodic windows and coexisting bifurcations. An electronic circuit design of the proposed jerk system is designed using PSPICE. As an engineering application, a new image-encryption approach based on the new chaotic jerk system is presented in this research work. Experimental results demonstrate that the suggested encryption mechanism is effective with high plain-image sensitivity and the reliability of the proposed chaotic jerk system for various cryptographic purposes.