It looks like Apple's woes with iOS 6.1 bugs continue to haunt it even after releasing fixes for them on an ongoing basis.
A new lock screen bug has emerged which was first reproduced by YouTube user
videosdebarraquito, who posted a video detailing the process.
The video shows that ejecting the iPhone's SIM card while using the phone's voice controls to make a phone call can allow anyone to access a locked iPhone's contact list and photos.
The video depicts the hack being reproduced on an iPhone 4 and
The Next Web was also able to replicate it on the iPhone 4S but not on the iPhone 5. However, a German site,
iPhoneblog.de was able to reproduce the hack on an iPhone 5. The hack doesn't seem to work if Siri is turned on to work in lock screen mode, as noted by various reports.
Interestingly, Apple had recently
released the iOS 6.1.3 update to fix the bug that allowed anyone to bypass a password protected lock screen. The hack just involved some steps that employed the use of the power and home button, and the emergency call feature, post which users got access to the Phone app, and thus the ability to add/ edit contacts, make calls, and access to photos by trying to assign a photo to a contact.
The 6.1.3 update also included a patch for blocking the popular 'evasi0n' hacking tool that lets users jailbreak their iPhones.
Apple had earlier released the 6.1.2 update to fix problems related to iOS devices overloading Exchange servers after being updated to iOS 6.1 due to issues with calendar sync. It had also released the 6.1.1 update for iPhone 4S users to fix network connectivity issues. Apple had released the iOS 6.1 update in January to enable 36 iPhone carriers and 23 iPad carriers around the world to provide access to the faster LTE networks offered in many locations. It also enabled movie ticket purchases through Fandango via Apple's voice-assistant Siri in the US, and individual song downloads from iCloud for iTunes Match subscribers.