A flaw was recently discovered in the Galaxy S10 that allowed any fingerprint to unlock the device. A British user found the controversial fingerprint scanner issue that allowed any fingerprint to unlock the flagship handset using a cheap screen protector.
Soon after this story spread like wildfire over the Internet, Samsung responded that it was “aware of the case of S10’s malfunctioning fingerprint recognition and will soon issue a software patch.” In fact, Samsung also stated that the issue concerns not just Galaxy S10 users, but also owners of the Galaxy Note 10.
The Korean manufacturer also warned users in an official statement:
“To prevent any further issues, we advise that Galaxy Note10/10+ and S10/S10+/S10 5G users who use such covers to remove the cover, delete all previous fingerprints and newly register their fingerprints. If you currently use front screen protective covers, to ensure optimum fingerprint scanning, please refrain from using this cover until your device has been updated with a new software patch. A software update is planned to be released as early as next week, and once updated, please be sure to scan your fingerprint in its entirety, so that the all portions of your fingerprint, including the center and corners have been fully scanned.”
Now, key sources suggest that Samsung is pushing an emergency update to address the fingerprint authentication flaw. For now, it appears that Galaxy Note 10+ 5G variant has started receiving this patch as an OTA update, which weighs 17.29MB. Besides fixing the fingerprint scanner flaw, the update also brings Touch screen and camera performance improvements, among others.
For now, it’s unclear whether the update is available for Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10+, and standard Galaxy Note 10 users. That said, it should be on its way soon given they too feature the same ultrasonic fingerprint scanner. We’ll keep an eye on this and update you as soon as we hear anything new. Until then, keep checking back for more.
