Steering Lock Malfunction

Today I got the “Steering Lock Malfunction” error message while driving, the steering wheel went limp in my hands and I pulled over. I turned the car off, consulted youtube university, then had to get back in and drive back to work. It let me start the car, and after running for a second the notification came back on. The steering wheel had much more play in it than normal, but was still drive able. From there I drove to get my lunch, then after starting the car again the notification did not come on and the car seemed to handle fine, if a little loosely. On the drive home from work the message never popped up and driving was smooth. Would these problems be indicative of the entire steering control module failing (which the internet says is the most common issue causing the error message) or am I looking at a smaller, less expensive issue?