They can't patch the OS because some applications rely on the UDID being constant. For example, some games check if the scores/progress are real by storing a hash of the scores and the UDID. This allows the dev to check that the scores/progress file wasn't downloaded from internet.
Changing the UDID would make the application think that the scores were tampered with.
Changing the UDID would make the application think that the scores were tampered with.