These Samsung phones are vulnerable to a serious security vulnerability

Samsung semiconductor confirmed that some Samsung and other phones are vulnerable to the “privilege escalation” hack identified earlier this year by Google security researchers. The issue affects older devices with Exynos 9820, 9825, 980, 990, 850 and W920 chipsets.

While Samsung didn’t indicate which phones were affected, Tom’s Guide did and the list includes some famous devices. These include the Exynos 990-equipped Galaxy S20 and Galaxy Note 20 series, and the Exynos 980-equipped Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Note 10 series. Fortunately, if you bought any of these phones in the US, they have Qualcomm Snapdragon chips installed and are not affected.

Other phones affected globally include the Galaxy A21, A51, A71, A14, A13 and A04s.

Lesser-known phones such as the Galaxy A Quantum, Galaxy M and Galaxy F phones, Vivo X30 series and Vivo S6 5G are also vulnerable. Some smartwatches are also at risk, such as the Galaxy Watch 5 series, Galaxy Watch 4 series, and Galaxy Watch FE.

According to CynetPrivilege escalation is a network attack aimed at unauthorized higher-level access to a security system. It starts with attackers exploiting vulnerabilities to gain access to a system with limited privileges, and then increasing their access to control sensitive systems or data. This often happens due to inadequate security measures, failure to adhere to the principle of least privilege, or software vulnerabilities that allow both external attackers and insiders to gain inappropriate access.

Samsung rates the current vulnerability as being of “high” severity. If you have any of these devices, make sure you have the latest software updates from Google and the manufacturer. Doing so should eliminate the risk.

Some of the phones mentioned above are almost five years old, which means they no longer support the latest version of Android. We suggest anyone in this boat check out our list best android phones currently on the market and overall best phones.