Samsung releases its January security patch to Galaxy devices with over 70 bug fixes
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Happy New Year to owners of certain flagship Samsung Galaxy phones which have received their first security update of 2024. Galaxy S23 series devices were updated to firmware version S91xBXXS3BWL3 while Galaxy S22 models received firmware version S90xBXXS7DWL3. Firmware version G99xBXXS9FWL9 was pushed out to Galaxy S21 devices. The updates tip the scales at around 400MB.
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Samsung's Security Updates webpage shows one vulnerability patched by the update, CVE-2022-40507, which Samsung characterizes as "Critical." 67 patches were disseminated to fix vulnerabilities listed as high priority. Six were designated as moderate-priority vulnerabilities, and one was included in a previous security update.
One of the patches fixes an issue involving the phones' "Notification service" which could have allowed an attacker to get his/her hand on the user's personal information. Galaxy devices running Android 11 to Android 14 were vulnerable. Another fix exterminated a bug that could have allowed an attacker to pair a device with a targeted Galaxy phone using Bluetooth without the device user having to do anything.
The Galaxy S23 and the rest of last year's flagship series has received the January security update
Another issue fixed by the update could allow Samsung DeX users in an environment with multiple users to access the notifications from other users. It isn't clear whether the January security update returned Samsung's burn-in screen protection to affected phones. The company previously said that this feature would return in January during the next update after being removed. This feature slightly shifts the pixels on the screen to prevent screen burn-in.
Besides the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S22, and Galaxy S21, other devices that will receive the January Samsung Mobile Security Update include:
- Galaxy Z Flip 5
- Galaxy Z Fold 5
- Galaxy Z Flip 4
- Galaxy Z Fold 4
- Galaxy A52 (5G)
- Galaxy Note 20
If the update hasn't been automatically installed on your phone, you can do it manually by going to Settings > Software update. These updates include patches meant for Android vulnerabilities and those that are specific to Samsung Galaxy devices.
Things that are NOT allowed: