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A nasty Samsung Galaxy S10 bug lets anyone with a fingerprint unlock it
Thankfully, a fix is coming “soon.”
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UPDATE October 18, 1:28 PM ET: Sounds like Samsung has identified the bug and said that a patch should be coming as early as next week. Apparently the issue is caused by the phones’ ultrasonic fingerprint sensor mistaking 3D patterns through the screen protector as authorized fingerprints. Meaning any fingerprint can unlock it. Original reporting below.
If you’re a proud owner of a new Samsung Galaxy S10 or Note 10, first – congratulations. Secondly, guess what? Your phone can be unlocked with a $4 case. Here’s a quick video of it in action. Technology is great, isn’t it?
According to The Sun, the security flaw was discovered by a British couple who recently outfitted their S10 with a gel cover to protect it from falls and scratches. Pretty standard stuff, but here is where things get interesting.
With the third-party screen protector on, the couple found that any fingerprint could unlock the phone. The husband was able to unlock his wife’s phone with his fingerprint, even though he wasn’t set up to use it.
이슈가 되고 있는 갤럭시 S10, 노트10 기종 실리콘 케이스 지문인식 뚫리는 현상 테스트해봤습니다….
갤럭시 10시리즈 사용자분들 당장 지문잠금해제 푸세요 pic.twitter.com/tbmzErrmkP
— StaLight (@Sta_Light_) October 16, 2019
Thankfully, Samsung confirmed the issue and says they plan on pushing out a fix to this “soon,” Reuters reported on Thursday. According to Samsung, “the issue can happen when patterns of some protectors that come with silicone phone cases are recognized along with fingerprints.”
For now, the phones that seem to be affected by this bug include the Galaxy S10, S10+, and Note 10. They all feature the in-display, ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, so it shouldn’t surprise anyone that all of the phones are experiencing these issues.
Yea, this obviously is not a good thing for Samsung right now. It’s so bad that South Korea’s online-only KaKaobank is telling folks to disable the finger recognition feature before logging into its services while the issue is sorted out.
While this all gets patched up, Samsung urges people to only use authorized screen protectors for the time being.
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