Latest iOS 7 bug lets you place calls from a locked iPhone

Apple released iOS 7 earlier this week and the first lock-screen bug surfaced just a day later. Now another bug has been discovered, but this one actually allows people to make phone calls from locked devices. Forbes was first made aware of the bug by Karam Daoud, and it’s astonishingly simple. Simply go to the emergency call screen of a passcode-locked iPhone on iOS 7, dial a number, and hit the green “call” button repeatedly. Eventually the virtual button appears to get “stuck” and the phone crashes to the white Apple logo on a black screen — but the call itself actually goes through. We were able to replicate the problem on both an iPhone 5 and an iPhone 4S.

Of course, just like the other bug, this requires physical access to an iPhone, but unlike the earlier exploit it doesn’t provide access to data on the device itself. Still, any behavior that allows someone to bypass a user’s lock screen without permission is clearly unacceptable, and we expect Apple will be addressing the problem with the first update to iOS 7. We’ve reached out to the company for comment, and will provide you with any further information as it becomes available.