Apple Fixes iOS 9 Lock Screen Bypass Flaw

Apple has confirmed that it has fixed an issue in its iOS software that could have let anyone hack into a customer’s iPhone by bypassing the lock screen.

Revealed earlier this week, the vulnerability allowed access into a locked iPhone without needing to enter a password or TouchID fingerprint scan by using Siri and a Twitter search for contact information such as an email address.

This could also have allowed hackers access to a user’s contact list and photo gallery, and was thought to affect iPhone 6 and 6S devices powered by versions of iOS 9 and above, including last week’s iOS 9.3.1 update.

All better

However, Apple confirmed in a statement to the Washington Post that the bug was fixed yesterday morning, US time, and that most consumers should have a fix in place, without the need for a software update.

The company also appears to have quietly fixed another issue with Siri which allowed users to turn on the new Night Shift power-saving feature announced with iOS 9.3, while the device is in Low Power Mode.

Although this did not pose any kind of security threat, the fix shows that Siri is able to be manipulated into carrying out functions that a user would be unable to do. First introduced with Apple’s iPhone 4S, the voice-recognition service has become an integral part of

However there still doesn’t appear to be any fix for several other issues affecting iOS 9.3, including one which stopped older devices from installing the upgrade – and another flaw which has stopped iPhones and iPads from opening links and crashing applications.

This latter issue left users unable to open links in first party applications such as Mail, Notes and Safari, as well as third party apps, rendering browsing “useless.”

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