A bug has been discovered recently that lets users call anyone with FaceTime on their devices, and let them immediately access the audio and front-facing video coming from the phone they’re calling. This is even before the person on the other end pick up or reject your call. The issue was first reported on 9to5mac.
The bug seems to affect the new Group FaceTime feature of the app. It activates when you start a video call with a contact and add another one while the call is ongoing. The person you’re calling will only see their phone ringing and is not aware that you can already hear them on your side.
Here are a few demonstrations of the FaceTime bug:
Now you can answer for yourself on FaceTime even if they don’t answer?#Apple explain this.. pic.twitter.com/gr8llRKZxJ
— Benji Mobb™ (@BmManski) January 28, 2019
— nic nguyen (@itsnicolenguyen) January 29, 2019
The discovery of the bug poses a risk to iOS users as it allows anyone to listen to other people without them knowing. It also undermines the security on iOS devices, which has been always been strong selling feature for Apple. According to reports, Apple has disabled the Group FaceTime feature on iOS devices. The company is now developing a fix to this issue. It will hopefully roll out the fix through an update this week.
