Apple has fixed a security flaw that allowed investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation to access deleted messages from the Signal messaging app through an iPhone’s notification system.
In a security advisory released Wednesday, Apple confirmed it resolved a bug that caused notifications marked for deletion to be unexpectedly retained on devices. The flaw meant cached previews of incoming messages remained stored in the phone’s notification database, even after users enabled disappearing messages or removed the Signal app entirely.
Signal later confirmed that Apple’s latest iOS update addressed the vulnerability, stating that the issue had allowed law enforcement to retrieve readable message previews despite the app’s end-to-end encryption protections.
Court Documents Reveal How Investigators Accessed Messages
The flaw became public after reporting by 404 Media on April 9, which cited recently unsealed federal court documents tied to an FBI investigation involving an attack on the Prairieland ICE Detention Facility in July.
According to the filings, investigators conducted forensic analysis on an iPhone and recovered Signal message previews stored in the notification database. These previews remained readable even after disappearing messages were activated and the app was deleted.
Privacy Experts Call for Stronger Notification Controls
Following the disclosure, Meredith Whittaker urged Apple to quickly correct the flaw, stating that deleted notifications should never persist in operating system databases.
Pavel Durov also commented on the issue, arguing that the safest approach for privacy-focused messaging platforms is to disable notification previews entirely to prevent sensitive content from being stored outside encrypted channels.
The incident highlights how device level data storage can undermine encryption safeguards, reinforcing the importance of regular software updates and careful management of notification settings.
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