Samsung will soon be pushing a software update to its some of its phones to fix an embarrassing issue with its in-display fingerprint sensor technology.

What's happening?

It was recently discovered that anyone can unlock a Samsung Galaxy S10 with their own fingerprint, even if it isn't registered with the security software.

The fault was first reported by The Sun when a couple found that, by adding a screen protector to the phone, the fingerprint sensor stopped working properly.

After applying the £2.70 gel screen protector bought on eBay, not only could Lisa Neilson unlock her device with any of her fingers, her husband could also - even though his digits weren't registered. The issue turned out to be wider spread.

KaKao Bank in South Korea even told its customers to stop using the fingerprint sensor to log into its services entirely. Samsung soon replied that it is "aware of the case of S10's malfunctioning fingerprint recognition and will issue a software patch".

When will this be fixed?

Samsung will be releasing the patch in the next 24 hours (by 25 October).

It claims that the issue relates to some “silicone screen protecting cases" and affects the Galaxy S10, S10 Plus and S10 5G. The Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10 Plus are also victims of the problem.

The phones’ ultrasonic sensor wrongly reads 3D patterns in the screen protector as fingerprints, allowing any person to then unlock a phone under a silicone layer.

Prior to the patch rollout, Samsung warned users not to use any such third-party protectors, delete registered fingerprints, then re-register them without the cover. If you are worried about the fault for now, you should use more traditional forms of unlocking your Samsung Galaxy S10 until the fix has arrived.

Notifications have started to appear on affected devices alerting users that the "Biometrics Update" is imminent. It won't appear on phones without a registered fingerprint, however, so ensure you do in the next two days.

It also says that you need to re-register your fingerprint(s) after the update is complete.