What exactly the issue is?
Several videos uploaded to YouTube by GeekyRanjit and Beebom reveal that the handset can be opened even with fingerprints that have not been registered, which raises worries about its level of security. According to the videos cited above, some Google Pixel 6a phones were able to be unlocked using fingerprints that had not been registered. They showed that the problem occurred in situations in which there was only one fingerprint of the user registered. Even fingers that had not been registered by the user were successful in unlocking the device. In some other instances, the phone was opened using the fingerprints of completely unrelated people.
Possible Cause
It is not apparent what is generating the issues that are related to the fingerprint reader in the Pixel 6a. There is a possibility that the issue is connected to the Titan M2 co-processor, which is responsible for handling security-related duties on the phone. In addition to that, it could be a problem with the firmware that prevents the biometric and security data from being accessed by other applications and services.
Can some future software update fix this issue?
It is currently unknown whether or not this problem will be able to be fixed with a future firmware upgrade. Recently the device received an update which caries a recent security patch update. The Pixel 6a also has received the Android 13 beta 4.1 update for beta testers which is quite stable, so users may try this out to see whether the issue related to the fingerprint scanner is fixed or not. To be clear, not every Pixel 6a user is experiencing the problem. There appears to be a severe security problem in only a few of these devices.
