Samsung Working On Fix For Exynos Kernel Vulnerability

By Anu Passary | Dec 21, 2012 10:36 AM EST

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Recently, it was reported that severe vulnerabilities were present in Samsung's Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note 2, and Galaxy S2 smartphones and potentially other devices from the company, which could enable malicious apps to access a user's data, brick phones, and make the device susceptible to other malicious activities. Per reports, Samsung has acknowledged the vulnerability and says that it is working on a fix .

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The vulnerabilities were discovered in Exynos 4 SoC , primarilyin Exynos 4210 and Exynos 4412 processors and were reported by XDA Developers user alephzain.

"The good news is we can easily obtain root on these devices and the bad is there is no control over it," noted alephzain.

Now, a Samsung spokesperson has confirmed in a statement to Android Central its plans to fix the Exynos kernel vulnerability "as quickly as possible."

"Samsung is aware of the potential security issue related to the Exynos processor and plans to provide a software update to address it as quickly as possible," noted the Samsung statement.

The company also went on to say that "the issue may arise only when a malicious application is operated on the affected devices; however, this does not affect most devices operating credible and authenticated applications."

The Korea-based company also confirmed that it will  monitor the situation until all the affected devices had received the software fix to counter the problem.

"Samsung will continue to closely monitor the situation until the software fix has been made available to all affected mobile devices," read the statement.

Users who install known apps or apps from trusted developers need not worry as they are likely to be safe. The list of vulnerable Samsung devices is as follows:

Exynos 4210 devices:

  • Samsung Galaxy Note GT-N7000
  • Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I9100
  • AT&T Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I777

Exynos 4412 devices:

  • Samsung Galaxy S3 GT-I9300
  • Samsung Galaxy S3 LTEGT-I9305
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 2 GT-N7100
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 2 LTEGT-N7105
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 GT-N8000
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 GT-N8010

Considering the popularity of Samsung devices, it comes as no surprise that the company has been quick to address the issue and will look to resolve it as quickly as possible.

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