iMessage bug reportedly fixed in iOS 6

Late last year, news broke of a serious iMessage bug that enabled iOS devices to continue to send and receive messages, even after being remotely wiped and having their SIM cards deactivated. It was particularly dangerous for folks whose devices were stolen, or the like.

But never fear, a new report says that the bug has been repaired in iOS 6. According to a source with knowledge of the matter, Apple has taken steps to eradicate the problem in its mobile software…

The Next Web reports:

“Earlier this year a series of stories exposed an odd bug in Apple’s iOS software that allowed stolen iPhones to continue receiving iMessage messages, even if the SIM was deactivated and password changed. Now, we have learned that the bug has been rectified as of Apple’s release of iOS 6 in September.

According to a source with knowledge of Apple’s steps to correct the matter, the issue has been fixed in iOS 6 through a variety of checks placed on iMessage. The most important of these is that Apple now uses its push systems to force a user to re-enter a password to use iMessage once your Apple ID credentials have been changed.”

Essentially this means that now if your phone is stolen, a quick change of your Apple ID password will require all of your devices to re-enter that password before anyone can continue to iMessage on them.

Additionally, placing your SIM card in a new handset with the same phone number, or wiping the compromised phone with Find My iPhone will also now disable your stolen device from iMessaging.

It’s not surprising that Apple hasn’t tried to draw more attention to the fix. Earlier this year, the company denied there was a bug in iMessage, despite the fact that it compensated a victim of it.