A security problem that could lead to serious consequences for ANDROID owners has been discovered by an expert.
Bug hunter David Schütz says he was able to bypass the lock screen on his Google Pixel devices with a few simple steps that anyone can do.
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It was an accident that he found it after his Pixel 6 battery almost died after 24 hours of travel.
While it isn’t clear if all Android devices are affected by the same problem, it’s enough to cause Google, the operating-system owner, to issue an update.
This flaw is only possible if someone has access to your phone, but there are still risks if thieves or abusive partners get it.
According to SchützIt all has to do with switching SIM card.
To temporarily disable the biometric features, you will first have to make three wrong fingerprint scans.
A hacker can now remove the SIM and insert their own SIM into the phone.
They are asked to enter three incorrect pin attempts, and then they will be asked for a PUK (Personal unblocking Key) code.
After this, you will be able to enter any PIN you have and gain access.
“This was disturbingly weird,”He said.
“My hands started to shake at this point.”
It was even tested on a Pixel 5 to confirm that it was not an isolated incident.
Schütz notified Google immediately but it took about three months until a fix was rolled out.
Apparently someone else had reported it before him but the tech giant still paid Schütz $70,000 for his efforts.
“Even though this bug started out as a not-too-great experience for me, the hacker, after I started “screaming” loudly enough, they noticed, and really wanted correct what went wrong,”He said.
“Hopefully they treated the original reporter(s) fairly as well. In the end, I think Google did pretty well, although the fix timelime still felt long for me.”
The November 5, 2022 security update included a patch for the flaw, officially known as CVE-2022-0465.
Updates should be turned on automatically to ensure your device is protected.
If your computers are turned off, download and install the latest version as soon as you can.
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