This weekend we learned some rather interesting news regarding a few exploits found in the kernel for Samsung‘s Exynos processors that power many popular smartphones. The Android Community and developers at XDA found a few holes and exploits in Samsung’s kernel that were both good, and bad. The important thing here being that this was a huge security concern for all users. Today Samsung’s replied to ease our minds.
The Exploit was found in Samsung’s Exynos 4 processors kernel, and was a security concern for the Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note, Note II, and many more Samsung devices. For one it gave us extremely easy ways to root the devices, which is awesome, but also allows so much access that it’s scary. Rouge apps can maliciously root users phone and become those bad malware infested apps we always hear about.
The community has already provided a fix (and root) for said devices, but today Samsung themselves went ahead and confirmed the exploit and were quick to mention a fix was in the works already. We expect a software update to arrive extremely quick, but here’s what Sammy had to say:
“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. 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. Samsung will continue to closely monitor the situation until the software fix has been made available to all affected mobile devices.
Samsung mentions most devices operating credible and authenticated apps won’t be effected, but this is still a huge exploit that many developers are saying is extremely silly. It makes rooting the phones an absolute breeze which could be bad in the wrong hands. The US Galaxy S III on all carriers are not effected, but all others will need a quick software update. We have a feeling Samsung will work rather quickly and issue something out ASAP, as they’re playing in the big league these days.
For the average user this shouldn’t be too big of a cause for concern, but be cautious of what you download and install in the meantime. We’ll update when we hear more.
