TECH

Google warns of vulnerabilities in Exynos chips

It is Google’s security group Project Zero that goes out on its blog and warns of active vulnerabilities in Samsung’s Exynos modem. In total, there are 18 reported security issues, 4 of which are considered serious and can give hackers access to a phone if they know the phone number.

It’s not very common for companies to issue security warnings before they’re resolved and there are updates to take care of them, but this time it appears that Google thinks Samsung needs to act fast. Among other things, Project Zero’s Maddie Stone says in a tweet that “end users still don’t have fixes 90 days after the report.”

The devices that Google says have not yet been updated to address the security issues are:

Samsung Galaxy S22, M33, M13, M12, A71, A53, A33, A21, A13, A12 and A04 series

Vivo S16, S15, S6, X70, X60 and X30 series

Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 series (Pixel 7 should be up to date with its March update, but it hasn’t reached all users yet)

All laptops using Exynos W920

All vehicles using Exynos Auto T5123

This is how you protect yourself...Google recommends that users with the affected devices turn off Wi-Fi calling and Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE), and install all security updates as soon as they become available.

Reporting: Ove Kaufeldt