A serious security breach puts millions of Samsung Galaxy smartphones at risk. According to the researchers behind the discovery, the breach makes it possible to take full control of a phone remotely through a malicious application. Samsung has rolled out an update to protect its users.
Kryptowire, an American company specializing in cybersecurity, has identified a serious security flaw in Samsung phones. This breach affects all of the brand’s smartphones running Android 9, Android 10, Android 11 and Android 12. De facto, millions of Galaxy devices in circulation in the world are affected. This is the case with the Galaxy S22, Galaxy S21 and many popular references from the Galaxy A range.
According to Kryptowire, the flaw is located in pre-installed phone app on all Samsung smartphones. “The Phone app has an insecure component that allows local apps to perform privileged operations without user permission”, details the report. To seize a smartphone, hackers can exploit this vulnerability through a malicious app.
Urgently install the update on your Samsung Galaxy
Identified in November 2021, the vulnerability could allow an attacker to take control of your smartphone from a distance. Concretely, the attacker would be able to make phone calls without your knowledge, install/uninstall Android applications, run applications in the background as well as reset the phone to factory settings.
“Have you ever thought that someone else has access to your phone? Unfortunately, you may be right”, says Alex Lisle, technical director of Kryptowire. To prove its claims, the firm exploited the flaw to take control of several terminals, including the Galaxy S21 Ultra, the Galaxy S10+ and the Galaxy A10e. On the other hand, devices that run on a version of Android earlier than Android 9 (like Android 8) are not vulnerable.
On the same theme: Samsung has delivered more than 100 million smartphones with a critical security flaw!
Alerted by Kryptowire, Samsung has integrated a patch into February 2022 security update. If this is not yet the case, we advise you to install the latest security update available on your phone as soon as possible. To do this, just do the following:
- See you in the menu Settings
- Press on About the device
- Select now Software update
- If available, choose Start update and follow the instructions provided
