Samsung has begun rolling out the initial security patch for its flagship phones for January 2024. Users in Europe have already noticed the update. Owners of the Galaxy S23 can expect to receive firmware version S91xBXXS3BWL3, while S22 and S21 devices should be receiving versions S90xBXXS7DWL3 and G99xBXXS9FWL9 respectively. The update seems to be approximately 400MB in size and appears to be very substantial.
According to the official patch notes, Samsung has addressed one critical security issue and an additional 67 issues labeled as “High” priority by the company.
Looking into the notes, it appears that there was a vulnerability in Samsung’s Bluetooth pairing process that could allow attackers to establish a pairing process without user interaction. Another bug could potentially allow Samsung DeX users in multi-user environments to access another user’s notifications.
It is unclear if this update includes the screen burn-in protection measure that Samsung had previously promised to release in January.
As mentioned, the new January security patch has already been observed on flagship Galaxy devices in Europe and is expected to arrive in the US soon. In addition to the previously mentioned device families, the patch should also be available for the Galaxy Z Fold5, Z Flip5, Z Fold4, Z Flip4, A54, and Note20 in this update. Interestingly, it seems that the FE edition devices are not currently included in this wave.
