Apple promises another iOS 6.1 fix for Microsoft Exchange issue

Updated: Apple has acknowledged that yet another iOS 6.1 issue - a vulnerability that can be exploited to bypass passcode locks - exists and that it's working on a fix.

"Apple takes user security very seriously," an Apple spokeswoman said in a statement to AllThingsD. "We are aware of this issue, and will deliver a fix in a future software update."

Though fairly convoluted, the vulnerability grants access to contacts, voicemails and photos on an iOS device without having to enter a 4-digit passcode.

Talk about a rotten update.

Original story continues below...

Apple's iOS version 6.1 update was clearly not the company's most well-tested release.

An issue with iOS 6.1 necessitated a hasty 6.1.1 fix release for iPhone 4S users earlier this week, and now Apple has upgraded its support website to acknowledge yet another problem that is affecting a wider range of Apple devices.

The issue produces error messages for users of iOS devices running 6.1 who attempt to access Microsoft Exchange servers to sync their contacts, mail or other content.

Apple's support site currently reads that a fix is in the works, though no time frame is given.

Well at least it's something

The problem occurs when an Apple device running the .1 update of iOS 6 attempts to sync with Microsoft Exchange.

For some reason the log grows enormously and the iPhone or iPad overloads the Exchange server, producing various error messages and preventing the sync from being completed.

TechRadar asked Apple earlier this week to find out if the 6.1.1 iOS update, released exclusively to iPhone 4S users to fix an issue with that device's cellular connection using 6.1, addressed this problem as well.

Apple never responded, but as long as they were made aware of the additional iOS 6.1 issue we feel our civic duty was performed.

In the meantime

Apple's support website, as spotted by ZDNet on Thursday, promises that "Apple has identified a fix and will make it available in an upcoming software update."

"In the meantime," the site suggests, "you can avoid this bug by not responding to an exception to a recurring event on your iOS device."

That advice is pretty unclear, but Microsoft made another suggestion on Tuesday, according to ZDNet: for company IT departments whose servers are being flooded by buggy iOS 6.1 devices to throttle or block those users entirely until Apple comes out with a real fix.

Sounds like the ball is in Apple's court.