Samsung has started rolling out the first security patches for its flagship phones in January 2024. Users have already seen the package in Europe. Galaxy S23 owners can look for firmware version S91xBXXS3BWL3, while S22 and S21 devices are S90xBXXS7DWL3 and GS99xBX9, G99xBXBX9, G99xBXS7DWL3 and G99xBX9, G99xBXBX9 respectively. The update seems to weigh around 400MB and seems very “dense” for lack of a better word.
Looking at the official patch notes, we can see that Samsung has squashed a critical security issue and 67 other issues labeled as “high” priority by the Korean giant.
Reading the notes a bit, we found that Samsung’s Bluetooth pairing process apparently had a vulnerability that allowed attackers to establish a pairing process without user interaction. Another interesting bug would potentially allow Samsung DeX users in a multi-user environment to access other users’ notifications.
It’s not clear if this update includes the screen burn-in protection that Samsung previously promised would arrive in January.
As mentioned, the new January security patch has already appeared on flagship Galaxy devices in Europe and should be coming to the US soon. Outside of the device families already mentioned, the patch should arrive in the same wave for the Galaxy Z Fold5, Z Flip5, Z Fold4, Z Flip4, A54 and Note20. It’s interesting to note that FE version devices don’t seem to be in this wave at the moment.
