Google’s security research unit has sounded the alarm about a number of vulnerabilities found on various Android devices, both smartphones and wearables. According to TechCrunch, the critical issues would derive from some Samsung chips used in dozens of Google home models. Criticalities that would expose users to potential cyber attacks.
Specifically, Tim Willis, head of Project Zero at Google, said they found and reported at least 18 vulnerabilities in Exynos chips manufactured by Samsung. Among these 18 defects, 4 are categorized with the maximum criticality levelas they could allow remote access to potential hackers.
“Testing conducted by Project Zero confirms that these four vulnerabilities allow an attacker to remotely compromise devices, even without any user interaction, and only require the attacker to know the victim’s phone number,” he said. stated Willis.
The fact that Google itself raised the alarm underlines the gravity of the situationas big techs generally release patches before explaining which vulnerabilities have been fixed.
What are the Android devices with vulnerabilities?
According to Project Zero, the affected devices include a dozen Samsung models, Vivo, and Google’s Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 series models. The affected devices also include wearable devices with Exynos chips. Below is a list of compromised devices by brand:
- Samsung: S22, M33, M13, M12, A71, A53, A33, A21s, A13, A12 e A04
- vivo: S16, S15, S6, X70, X60 e X30
- Google: Pixel 6 e Pixel 7
To these are added the smart vehicles that use the Exynos Auto T5123 chipset.
What to do?
Google said that the release of the patches will take place in a short time, although the timing will depend on the individual brand. Mountain View also assured that Pixel smartphones already benefit from the security updates released this month.
Pending patches, Google recommends turn off Wi-Fi calling and Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) in your device settings. In this way, Google explains, “the risk of exploiting these vulnerabilities will decrease”.