If you own a Samsung Galaxy smartphone, you should check your device and install the latest software update without delay. The Korean technology giant has released its April 2023 security patch, fixing major flaws that could leave devices vulnerable to attack from hackers. You wouldn’t want to ignore this new download, as it fixes a total of 55 flaws within the Android operating system with four issues deemed so serious they have been given the dreaded “critical” rating.

In addition, 46 are classified as “high priority” flaws, which means that the company has been scrambling to fix them as soon as possible.

If you own a Galaxy S23 or S23 Ultra, you can download the patch immediately, as the update should be available across the world with other devices expected to receive the bug fixes soon.

If this wasn’t enough to convince you to grab your Samsung device and install the new update, there’s another reason why this patch is important.

Last month, experts at Google detected a major security flaw in a number of the models from the popular Android brand, including last year’s S22.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

Galaxy S23 arrives with a mammoth 6.8-inch 120Hz screen, a powerful new Qualcomm processor, a 200-megapixel camera, and the clever S Pen stylus to make handwritten notes, doodle, or sign PDFs.

RRP for Galaxy S23 Ultra is £1,249 for 256GB / £1,399 for 512GB of storage

Of the 18 security flaws they discovered, they noted that the four of the most serious vulnerabilities would “allow an attacker to remotely compromise a phone” without interacting with the user.

All that a cybercriminal would need is the victim’s phone number, and their phone would be comprised without them even knowing that anything is wrong.

Project Zero’s Tim Willis explained: “With limited additional research and development, we believe that skilled attackers would be able to quickly create an operational exploit to compromise affected devices silently and remotely.”

The issue was found in the devices powered by Samsung’s Exynos processors and was so serious that experts advised Galaxy users to switch off certain Wi-Fi calling settings until a fix had been pushed out.

Samsung introduces the new Galaxy S22 Ultra

Fortunately, the April software update fixes those problems, with Samsung’s notes confirming that it has patched an error in 3GPP specification implementation in the Exynos baseband.

Here’s how to download the patch.

Step 1. Go to Settings > tap Software update.
Step 2. Tap Download and install.
Step 3. If new software is available, you can choose Install now, Schedule Install or Later.

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