Apple Apologizes About FaceTime Bug, Software Update With Fix Delayed Until Next Week

facetime bug duo
Apple issued the following statement to MacRumors today in which it apologized for a major FaceTime eavesdropping bug:

We have fixed the Group FaceTime security bug on Apple's servers and we will issue a software update to re-enable the feature for users next week. We thank the Thompson family for reporting the bug. We sincerely apologize to our customers who were affected and all who were concerned about this security issue. We appreciate everyone's patience as we complete this process.

We want to assure our customers that as soon as our engineering team became aware of the details necessary to reproduce the bug, they quickly disabled Group FaceTime and began work on the fix. We are committed to improving the process by which we receive and escalate these reports, in order to get them to the right people as fast as possible. We take the security of our products extremely seriously and we are committed to continuing to earn the trust Apple customers place in us.

Widely publicized on Monday, the FaceTime bug allowed one person to call another person via ‌FaceTime‌, slide up on the interface and enter their own phone number, and automatically gain access to audio from the other person's device without that person accepting the call. In some cases, even video was accessible.

We demonstrated the bug in a video earlier this week:


Apple disabled Group FaceTime as a temporary server-side solution, preventing the bug from working any longer. Apple is also working on a software update with a permanent fix that it originally said would be available this week, but it has been delayed until next week, according to Apple's statement.

Apple thanked the Thompson family for reporting the bug—supposedly over a week before it made headlines—and said it is committed to improving the process by which it receives and escalate these reports in order to quash bugs faster.

Apple already faces a lawsuit in Texas and a proposed class action lawsuit in Canada over the bug. Given the serious privacy implications involved, it is certainly possible there will be more class action lawsuits to come.

Top Rated Comments

MacFather Avatar
67 months ago
Deleted.
Score: 47 Votes (Like | Disagree)
weup togo Avatar
67 months ago
This woman did *everything* right. She got blown off by the security team! Apple's cancerous hiring growth has lead to a mountain of people with no clue about Apple's actual culture or standards. We see the results in the headlines here daily for the last few years.
Score: 38 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mjharwaz Avatar
67 months ago
Am I the only person in the world who thinks the process to even get to this bug is asinine and outside of the normal use case of the average person? In what scenario does one find themselves thinking "oh, the other party isn't answering, maybe I should just FaceTime myself?"

Yes, it's a problem that something like this could be exploited to spy on someone, but without the publicity how many people would have ever tried this in their lifetime, let alone the week it was a problem?
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
otternonsense Avatar
67 months ago
Stop apologising and do some basic freaking testing and QA before rolling out (delayed) promised features. Every week there's a different bug, "gate" or whatnot.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ImAnAgent Avatar
67 months ago
It's impossible to uncover all bugs in any software release no matter what company is involved. That's why releases continue to happen any why beta releases take place. If the bugs aren't found during the betas, you can't blame these companies for releasing a version they feel is ready.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
az431 Avatar
67 months ago
Stop apologising and do some basic freaking testing and QA before rolling out (delayed) promised features. Every week there's a different bug, "gate" or whatnot.
Your assumption is that because a bug manifests itself, that Apple doesn't do "basic freaking testing," which is both illogical and incorrect. That's basically like saying if people were careful there would never be a car accident. Duh.

Regardless of how much testing is done, bugs will pop up, especially in something as complex as an operating system, and especially when you have 1.4 billion devices running that operating system.

The problem here is Apple's system for handling bug reports is horrible. I've reported bugs that were indeed bugs, and Apple either responded with some canned nonsense about it being intended or didn't respond at all. Then 2-3 years later the bug was fixed. Anytime you have to deal with Apple outside the context of the Apple Store it's a mess.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

reset password request iphone

Warning: Apple Users Targeted in Phishing Attack Involving Rapid Password Reset Requests

Tuesday March 26, 2024 4:34 pm PDT by
Phishing attacks taking advantage of Apple's password reset feature have become increasingly common, according to a report from KrebsOnSecurity. Multiple Apple users have been targeted in an attack that bombards them with an endless stream of notifications or multi-factor authentication (MFA) messages in an attempt to cause panic so they'll respond favorably to social engineering. An...
iPhone Home Screen Gradient Blank Spaces 1

Sources: iOS 18 Lets Apps Be Placed Anywhere on Home Screen Grid

Sunday March 24, 2024 1:33 pm PDT by
iOS 18 will give iPhone users greater control over Home Screen app icon arrangement, according to sources familiar with the matter. While app icons will likely remain locked to an invisible grid system on the Home Screen, to ensure there is some uniformity, our sources say that users will be able to arrange icons more freely on iOS 18. For example, we expect that the update will introduce...
iPad Pro 2024 Landscape Camera Feature

New iPad Pro Again Rumored to Feature Landscape Front-Facing Camera

Monday March 25, 2024 5:43 am PDT by
The next-generation iPad Pro will feature a landscape-oriented front-facing camera for the first time, according to the Apple leaker known as "Instant Digital." Instant Digital reiterated the design change earlier today on Weibo with a simple accompanying 2D image. The post reveals that the entire TrueDepth camera array will move to the right side of the device, while the microphone will...
sonoma desktop wwdc

Apple Releases macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 With Fix for USB Hub Bug

Monday March 25, 2024 10:10 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sonoma 14.4.1, a minor update for the macOS Sonoma operating system that launched last September. macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 comes three weeks after macOS Sonoma 14.4. The ‌‌‌‌macOS Sonoma‌‌ 14.4‌.1 update can be downloaded for free on all eligible Macs using the Software Update section of System Settings. There's also a macOS 13.6.6 release for those who...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18 Will Finally Bring This Android Feature to iPhone

Monday March 25, 2024 6:42 am PDT by
iOS 18 will allow iPhone users to place app icons anywhere on the Home Screen grid, according to sources familiar with development of the software update. This basic feature has long been available on Android smartphones. While app icons will likely remain locked to an invisible grid system on the Home Screen, our sources said that users will be able to arrange icons more freely on iOS 18....
iphone reasons to upgrade

Apple Outlines 'Reasons to Upgrade' Your iPhone on New Website

Monday March 25, 2024 12:53 pm PDT by
Apple today added a "Why Upgrade" section to its website, which is aimed at encouraging customers with older iPhones to upgrade to a newer model. The website allows customers to compare the iPhone 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max, 12, 12 mini, 12 Pro, and 12 Pro Max to the iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, or iPhone 15 Pro Max. Each comparison shows what new features someone with an older...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces WWDC 2024 Event for June 10 to 14

Tuesday March 26, 2024 10:02 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its 35th annual Worldwide Developers Conference is set to take place from Monday, June 10 to Friday, June 14. As with WWDC events since 2020, WWDC 2024 will be an online event that is open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. WWDC 2024 will include online sessions and labs so that developers can learn about new...