SAMSUNG smartphone owners have been warned to install an important update after a number of worrying flaws were discovered – including one described as “critical”.
Left unfixed, these sorts of problems can lead to malware being installed secretly by cyber criminals whose sole aim is to steal data and raid bank accounts.
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Samsung and Android-owner Google routinely put out big software updates to protect users from these attacks, as fraudsters constantly evolve their tactics.
September’s bumper update includes some 60 bug fixes.
The big one deemed “critical” was actually raised to Samsung by WhatsApp, but it’s not clear whether the problem affects those with the app installed.
However, it does impact any phones running running Android 13 or later so users should update as soon as possible.
According to Samsung’s technical page, the flaw (known officially as SVE-2025-1702) “allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code” meaning a hacker can run dodgy features on your device without you knowing it.
Samsung says it was “notified that an exploit for this issue has existed in the wild”.
The move follows a similar scare on iPhone recently, after a vulnerability was found on WhatsApp for iOS.
“As part of our proactive investigation into a highly targeted exploit over the summer (which resulted in our security advisory for iOS/MacOS WhatsApp users), we shared our findings with our industry peers, including Apple and Samsung,” a rep for Meta told BleepingComputer.
“Apple mitigated the relevant high-severity vulnerability (CVE-2025-43300) last month.
“Samsung also issued a patch for SVE-2025-1702 and published their security advisory this week.”
Fortunately, most people should be safe thanks to Samsung releasing an update so quickly.
These are the devices that need to update:
- Galaxy Z Fold4
- Galaxy Z Flip4
- Galaxy Z Fold5
- Galaxy Z Flip5
- Galaxy Z Fold6
- Galaxy Z Flip6
- Galaxy Z Fold7
- Galaxy Z Flip7
- Galaxy Z Flip7 FE
- Galaxy S21 FE 5G
- Galaxy S22
- Galaxy S22+
- Galaxy S22 Ultra
- Galaxy S23
- Galaxy S23+
- Galaxy S23 Ultra
- Galaxy S23 FE
- Galaxy S24
- Galaxy S24+
- Galaxy S24 Ultra
- Galaxy S24 FE
- Galaxy S25
- Galaxy S25+
- Galaxy S25 Ultra
- Galaxy S25 Edge
- Galaxy A56 5G
STAYING SAFE
The best way to protect yourself from any attacks is to always have automatic updates switched on.
You can check for software updates manually too.
Just slide from the top of your screen down and tap the settings cog icon in the top right.
Swipe all the way down to the bottom and look for the Software update option.
Finally, tap Download and install to see if an update is available for you.
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