The Computer Emergency Response Team of India (CERT-In) on behalf of the Indian government has alerted users of Samsung mobile phones to several high-risk vulnerabilities. The CERT-In Vulnerability Note CIVN-2023-0360 alert, which affects Samsung Mobile Android versions 11, 12, 13, and 14, highlights serious security flaws. Because of their easy exploitation and potential impact, these vulnerabilities have been rated as HIGH.
Numerous serious risks have been found in Samsung products by CERT-In researchers. These vulnerabilities could give attackers access to private data, circumvent security measures, and run arbitrary code on the systems they are targeting. According to the CERT-In advisory, these vulnerabilities affect different parts of the Samsung ecosystem and are varied in nature.
As per CERT-In, the vulnerabilities found in Samsung products are caused by problems like:
- Improper Knox feature access control.
- Software for facial recognition has an integer overflow bug.
- Problems with authorization on the AR Emoji app.
- Incorrect way that Knox security software handles errors.
- Several memory corruption flaws in different parts of the system.
- The softsimd library’s data size verification is incorrect.
- Invalid user input within the Smart Clip application.
- Unauthorized use of specific contact app interactions.
What are the risks
Severe repercussions could result from successfully exploiting the vulnerabilities, according to the security note. “An attacker may be able to cause heap and stack-based buffer overflows, gain access to the device SIM PIN, send broadcast with elevated privilege, read AR Emoji sandbox data, bypass Knox Guard lock by changing system time, access arbitrary files, gain access to sensitive information, execute arbitrary code, and compromise the targeted system.”
Vulnerable devices
The most recent vulnerabilities discovered impact Samsung Mobile Android versions 11, 12, 13, and 14, endangering a variety of Samsung devices, such as the Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy Fold 5, and Galaxy Flip 5.
How to protect your phone
Users are strongly encouraged to take the following actions in order to reduce the risks associated with these vulnerabilities:
- Install Security Updates: As advised by Samsung in their official security advisory, users should install the security updates as soon as possible. Go to Settings > Software update > Download and install to see if there are any updates available for your device. In the interim, make sure the most recent security patches are installed by routinely checking for updates and installing them.
- Exercise Caution: Users are also advised to use caution when using the affected devices until the update is applied, particularly when interacting with unknown or untrusted sources.
- Update your apps often: Vulnerabilities in outdated software can also be exploited by hackers. Check for updates from the Google Play Store to ensure that all of your apps are current.
- Be careful what apps you install: Installing apps can be risky, so users are encouraged to only do so from reliable sources like the Google Play Store. Downloading apps from unaffiliated websites is discouraged since they might be malicious.
- Use caution when clicking links: Avoid clicking links in emails or messages from senders you are not familiar with. These links may lead to phishing websites, which are created with the intention of stealing your personal data.