Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

The ‘security flaw’ in Prime Exclusive Moto G5 Plus isn’t a flaw at all

Mark Jansen
By

Lenovo Moto G5 Plus review
Kyle Wiggers/Digital Trends
It was recently reported that a security flaw in the Amazon Prime Exclusive version of the Lenovo Moto G5 Plus granted access to the phone without the need for authentication, however according to Amazon, the flaw isn’t a flaw at all.

If you’re already an Amazon Prime member (or have access to the free trial), then you have the option of picking up certain mobile phones with a discount off the recommended retail price. What’s the catch? You have to deal with lock screen ads and “offers” from Amazon.  So if you can live with your recent Amazon searches popping up on your lock screen when you use your phone, then you’ve got a bargain.

Recommended Videos

That’s the way it is with the Moto G5 Plus, which can be picked up for $240 with Amazon’s Prime Exclusive deal, a bargain for most. However, according to some users, it was easy to bypass the phone’s lock screen by tapping on a lock screen ad, which opens up Chrome — seemingly bypassing the lock screen altogether. But, as Amazon points out, the reason the lock screen is bypassed is because of an Android-wide feature called Smart Lock. Specifically, when “body detection” is enabled, users are able to bypass the lock screen because the phone recognizes that it’s still in motion. To be clear, this feature has to be enabled, and it shouldn’t be on by default.

Related

Reddit users were quick to try and replicate the flaw and it was discovered that Moto Display needed to be turned on, and the so-called flaw doesn’t replicate if the phone has been turned off for a significant amount of time. The description of a replication video says that duration is around 30 seconds, which doesn’t sound too bad until you realize that is 30 seconds during which anyone can access your phone. It’s likely that the time estimate was simply how long it took on-body detection to stop detecting.

Long story short: There is no known security flaw on the Amazon Prime Exclusive version of the Moto G5 Plus. The issue is that Smart Lock is enabled — and if you don’t like that you can simply disable it. That’s good news for users, who probably didn’t want a way for anyone to get easy access to their device.

Update: The supposed security flaw on the Moto G5 Plus is simple on-body detection being enabled and not a flaw at all.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Mark Jansen
Mark Jansen
Contributor
Mark Jansen is an avid follower of everything that beeps, bloops, or makes pretty lights. He has a degree in Ancient &…
Motorola adds 5G to its Moto G series of phones
Front left view of Moto Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G and Moto G 5G.

Motorola has just brought 5G to its 2022 Moto G product lineup with the introduction of two new models, the Moto G 5G and the Moto G Stylus 5G.

Following the trend from last year, the new Moto G Stylus 5G is essentially the 5G version of the standard 2022 Moto G Stylus. It packs the same battery, camera modules, and display, but moves from the MediaTek Helio G88 CPU to a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 to deliver its 5G capabilities.

Read more
OnePlus Nord N20 5G heads exclusively to T-Mobile on April 28
Woman holding up OnePlus Nord N20 to take a selfie.

OnePlus has set a release date for the highly anticipated Nord N20 5G, the latest model in its budget 5G phone lineup. The new phone will be coming to North America exclusively on T-Mobile beginning April 28.

The Nord N20 is the successor to last year’s Nord N10 and N100 lineup, although this time around, OnePlus is bringing a few more premium specs to the table, including a move from LCD to AMOLED and an in-display fingerprint scanner.

Read more
5 ways the Galaxy A53 5G is a good value, and 1 way it isn’t
Samsung Galaxy A53 5G and Galaxy A33 5G blue and peach colors.

The Samsung Galaxy A53 5G is your way into Galaxy phone ownership without having to splurge on a phone like the expensive (but admittedly brilliant) Galaxy S22 Ultra. The newly released smartphone costs $450 which is far more affordable, and we think it's shaping up to offer good value.

Let's look at the ways the Galaxy A53 5G delivers this value, in an effort to help you make the decision whether to pick this phone up or not. Then, at the end, we'll talk about the one area the Galaxy A53 is losing out on compared to the competition.
Lower price
Despite a new processor and other hardware improvements, the Galaxy A53 5G is cheaper than its predecessor, the Galaxy A52 5G. You pay $450 for the new phone compared to $500 for the old model, or 399 British pounds in the U.K. compared to 450 pounds. While most manufacturers attempt to keep the same price with a new model, it’s rare to see the price go down. It’s part of why we consider the A53 5G good value, even after only a short time using it.
Years of software support
You'll spend less buying the new Galaxy A53 5G than before, and for that lower price, you'll also get longer software support this time around. Samsung has committed to delivering four years of Android updates and five years of security updates to the Galaxy A53 5G, a year longer than it did for the Galaxy A52 5G. It’s the same software update commitment you get if you purchase a Galaxy S22 series phone.

Read more