Samsung Galaxy Devices are Being Hacked: Is Your Phone or Smartwatch Affected?

A critical vulnerability in Samsung’s Exynos processors is being exploited by malicious actors to remotely execute code, as reported by Google security experts.

The vulnerability impacts devices with Exynos processors 9820, 9825, 980, 990, 850, and W920, with a severity rating of 8.1 out of 10, according to The Register.

Affected devices include the Galaxy S10 series, Galaxy Note 10 series, Galaxy A51, A71, S20 series, Note 20 series, A21, M13, and M12. Smartwatches like the Galaxy Watch 4 series, Galaxy Watch 5 series, and Galaxy Watch FE are also affected.

Google experts have observed the vulnerability being exploited in attacks where it is combined with other vulnerabilities to execute code on users’ devices. The bug is related to memory management and page mapping handling.

“This zero-day exploit is part of an EoP chain,” stated Google experts. “The attacker can run arbitrary code in a privileged camera server process and has altered the process name to ‘vendor.samsung.hardware.camera.provider@3.0-service’ to increase tracking complexity.”

Samsung has initiated the distribution of security updates through its monthly release and advises users to regularly update their devices. Users can find instructions on how to update Android.

A Samsung spokesperson affirmed that “the company is dedicated to providing the highest level of security for its users and is actively addressing the vulnerability.”