Wii U user may have accidentally accessed debug mode, can reset other users' passwords (update)

The Wii U may have already been accidentally hacked after a user on the forum NeoGAF wrote that while setting up his friends list in the Miiverse, he gained access to what appears to be the console's debug menu.

NeoGAF member "Trike" wrote:

Well, I was messing around in Miiverse trying to find out how the hell to do the initial set-up of my friends list to no avail. In doing so I accidentally found the "debug" menu on Miiverse. At first I thought, "Hey, neat!" thinking it was just a legit secret or something. I can even access something with the name "prototype" that seems to be the actual prototype Miiverse in Japanese ... That is when I found the admin list.

At first it asked me to sign in, because my login information didn't match. Then I pressed a button and it sent me to a list of admins anyway. They had buttons in the same row as the names, and I could "regenerate password" or "Delete Admin" or something along those lines.

Trike posted images to NeoGAF as proof that he had gained access to the console's back end. The images show that he is able to regenerate admin passwords, delete accounts and view admin messages. It is not known if this is a widespread problem or an isolated incident.

We have contacted Nintendo for comment.

Update: Nintendo has apparently patched the issue. We are still waiting for comment.