Samsung is rolling out a second monthly patch for the Galaxy Note 10+ 5G. The device had previously been updated with the security maintenance release for the month of October 2019. It likely fixes the fingerprint flaw that has recently been discovered.
The flaw affects both the Galaxy S10 and the Galaxy Note 10 series. That's because Samsung's flagship lineup uses an ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensor. The flaw enables anyone to access the phone if it has a certain kind of silicone gel case installed, even if their fingerprint isn't registered with the device.
Second Galaxy Note 10+ 5G monthly update now rolling out
The flaw is due to the way ultrasonic fingerprint sensors work. They transmit high-frequency ultrasonic sound waves when the user's finger is pressed up against the glass. They're reflected back to match the fingerprint with the one that's stored on the device. However, if the fingerprint is stored on a device that has the silicone case, the sensor doesn't pick up the finger's ridges and pores as much as it picks up the case's dotted pattern.
So anyone can unlock the device by simply pressing down on the fingerprint reader when the case is on. It picks up the dotted pattern and confirms it as a match. Samsung confirmed yesterday that it will fix the fingerprint flaw with a software update.
The company is now rolling out firmware version N976BXXU1ASJ2 for the Galaxy Note 10+ 5G in the United Kingdom. It's a minor update that weighs under 18MB. The changelog mentions that “the performance of Fingerprint recognition has been improved.” There's no explicit mention of the flaw being fixed, but that's likely what it is.
Samsung should begin rolling out the firmware fix for other variants of the Galaxy S10 and the Galaxy Note 10 in the near future. This particular update is now available for download from our firmware section.
