18 Zero-Day Flaws Found in Samsung Exynos Modems

Google's Project Zero, a team dedicated to studying and reporting vulnerabilities, has identified 18 zero-day vulnerabilities in Samsung's Exynos chipsets used in various Android devices, including mobile devices, wearables, and vehicles.

Four of the most severe vulnerabilities detected allow attackers to execute code remotely at the baseband level. This is the critical firmware and hardware that allows your device to connect to the cellular network. A cybercriminal could use this unauthorized access to silently monitor the data flowing in and out of an affected device, for example.

To take advantage of these four serious vulnerabilities, an attacker would only require the victim's phone number. Experienced hackers could quickly create an operational exploit to take advantage of these vulnerabilities without triggering alarms.

The affected devices include:

• Samsung S22, M33, M13, M12, A71, A53, A33, A21, A13, A12, and A04 mobile device series
• Vivo S16, S15, S6, X70, X60, and X30 mobile device series
• Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 mobile device series
• Wearables that use the Exynos W920 chipset
• Vehicles that use the Exynos Auto T5123 chipset

Project Zero has decided to delay disclosing the details of these four severe vulnerabilities that allow for Internet-to-baseband remote code execution. This is due to the rare combination of the level of access and the speed with which reliable operational exploits could be created. The remaining 14 vulnerabilities are less critical but still pose a risk, requiring local access or a malicious mobile network operator to exploit successfully.

Google has noted that patches for these vulnerabilities will vary depending on the manufacturer, but its Pixel 7 devices are already patched following its recent March security updates.

In the meantime, users can switch off Wi-Fi calling and Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) in their device settings to remove the exploitation risk of these vulnerabilities. This workaround has been confirmed by Samsung, who also encourages users to update their devices as soon as possible.