Samsung Semiconductor has confirmed that some Samsung phones, as well as others, are vulnerable to the “privilege escalation” hack identified earlier this year by Google security researchers. This issue affects older devices with Exynos 9820, 9825, 980, 990, 850 and W920 chipsets.
While Samsung didn’t specify which phones were affected, Tom’s Guide did, and some family devices are included in the list. These include TV series Galaxy S20 and Galaxy Note 20 equipped with Exynos 990 and this series Galaxy S10 and the Galaxy Note 10, powered by the Exynos 980. Luckily, if you bought any of these phones in the US, they have Qualcomm Snapdragon chips and are not affected by this.
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Other affected phones globally include the Galaxy A21, A51, A71, A14, A13 and A04s.
There are also lesser-known phones that are also vulnerable, such as the Galaxy A Quantum, Galaxy M and Galaxy F phones, Vivo X30 series and Vivo S6 5G. Some smartwatches are also at risk, such as the Galaxy Watch 5 series, Galaxy Watch 4 series, and Galaxy Watch FE.
According to Cynet, privilege escalation is a network attack that aims to gain higher-level unauthorized access to a security system. It starts with attackers exploiting vulnerabilities to log into systems with limited permissions and then expanding their access to control sensitive systems or data. This is usually due to inadequate security measures, failure to adhere to the principle of least privilege, or software vulnerabilities that allow both external and internal attackers to gain unauthorized access.
Samsung rates this current vulnerability as “high” severity. If you have any of these devices, make sure they have the latest software updates from Google and the manufacturer. This should eliminate the risk.
Some of the phones mentioned above are almost five years old, which means they no longer support the latest version of Android.
Source: Digital Trends
