Samsung rolls out fix for Galaxy S3 security flaw, sudden death issue

Samsung has begun to address a flaw with its Exynos processor, which leaves devices like the flagship Galaxy S3 exposed to hackers.

The vulnerability first identified in mid-December, concerns devices running the company's custom Exynos 4 processor.

The flaw left the handset's physical memory (RAM) exposed and, potentially, allowed hackers to glean data or even send malware to the device.

Samsung promised a fix when the issue was uncovered by members of the XDA Developers forum and that fix has now rolled out to Galaxy S3 users in the UK.

However, the issue is thought to affect other Exynos-packing devices, including the Galaxy S2, the Galaxy Note and Galaxy Note 2, and the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Sudden death dies too

The firmware update, which can be downloaded over the air, is also thought to fix the so-called 'sudden death' issue which has caused some Galaxy S3 users to experience random bricking.

Those particular handsets have been shutting down and then refusing to switch back on again.

Although the update can't bring those handsets back from the dead, it may prevent others suffering a similar fate.

Via The Next Web