Phones
[U: Fix coming] Critical Mali GPU threat affected Samsung Exynos phones
[November 29] Update: Fix coming
According to 9to5Google, Google promised that a fix for Mali GPU-related exploit is currently in testing and will be delivered in the “coming weeks.” In a statement from the Android and Pixel teams, the company said that the patch will also be required for Android partners.
‘The fix provided by Arm is currently undergoing testing for Android and Pixel devices and will be delivered in the coming weeks. Android OEM partners will be required to take the patch to comply with future SPL requirements.”
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[November 25] Initial story…
On November 22nd, the Google Project Zero team discovered multiple security vulnerabilities/threats that affect various Samsung devices, specifically, Exynos chipset-powered devices with Mali GPU.
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Among the discovered vulnerabilities, one can lead to kernel memory corruption. Not that all, but the other threats can leak physical memory addresses, and three others can lead to a physical page us-after-free condition.
In general, if your Samsung Exynos device is affected by any of these Mali vulnerabilities/threats, an attacker who executes native code in an app can gain full access to the system and bypass the permission model of the OS.
Google’s Project Zero team in their blog post said that these vulnerabilities can let attackers continue reading and writing physical pages after returning to the system.
Notably, Google’s Project Zero team initially discovered these flaws while investigating Pixel 6 devices. Thankfully, all the Snapdragon processor-powered Galaxy models are unaffected by these vulnerabilities.
Back in July, ARM spotted these Mali-related security flaws, however, any smartphone maker didn’t patch to address them. As Project Zero has finally discovered the issue in Android, hopefully, the patches will be coming next month.
Apart from Samsung, ARM-made Mali GPUs are also used in Xiaomi and OPPO smartphones. Hence, some of the Xiaomi and OPPO devices could also be affected by these Mali-related security flaws.
VCX Forum has recently given Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra the top spot and a full five-star (outstanding) rating in its latest review. The latest independent review reiterates that the S23 Ultra’s camera delivers top-quality results and makes use of the best of current technology.
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Highlighted by the renowned VCX Forum, the Galaxy S23 Ultra creates stunning images that are often hard to believe were taken with a smartphone, thanks to its professional-grade camera. It not only captures great night photos and videos but also boasts a 200-megapixel camera for lossless imaging.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra received a total score of 69 which was the result of the evaluation of its main camera (75 points in image quality, 76 in video, and 55 in performance) and its selfie camera (64 points), placing it in first place in the VCX Forum ranking.
Also, it’s noteworthy that among these smartphones evaluated by Valuable Camera eXperience, the only ones that have reached five stars have been Galaxy smartphones including the Galaxy S22 Ultra, S21 Ultra, S21 +, and Note 20 Ultra.
Galaxy S23 Ultra Camera
The Galaxy S23 Ultra’s camera became the highest rated yet by the VCX Forum thanks to advances in the new 200MP Adaptive Pixel sensor, delivering clarity never seen before on a Galaxy smartphone, complemented by enhanced camera capabilities.
The Nightography function, which corrects visual noise that often ruins images in low light with a new AI-based Image Signal Processing (ISP) algorithm. Moreover, the device has a wide range of shooting options, including wide-angle, ultra-wide, 3X Optical telephoto, and 10X Optical telephoto.
In addition, the smartphone flaunts the Expert RAW app, which allows you to shoot and edit DSLR-style RAW and JPEG images. Plus, Astrophoto opens up the ability to set exposure manually or let the camera choose, to capture planets and constellations clearly.
The next-gen Galaxy foldable smartphones reportedly use the same chipset Samsung used in the S23 series. As we are months away from tentative launch, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra just surrendered its performance crown to the Galaxy Z Fold5 and Galaxy Z Flip5.
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According to the info, the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 and Z Flip5 spotted running Snapdragon for Galaxy chip on Geekbench, with radically boosted performance. Notably, the Galaxy variant already offers higher (3.36GHz) performance than the standard 8 Gen 2 (3.2GHz).
Geekbench data shows that the Galaxy Z Fold5 (SM-F946U) and Galaxy Z Flip5 (SM-F731U) are powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chipset. It’s also revealed that the book-like foldable features 12GB RAM while the flip-style phone has 8GB of RAM.
The Galaxy Z Fold5 scored 2014 and 5022 points in Geekbench’s single-core and multi-core tests, respectively. At the same time, the Galaxy Z Flip5 even defeated the big brother with 2030 points in single-core and 5213 points in the multi-core tests, respectively.
Processor installation is the same but the upcoming foldable phones just defeated the Galaxy S23 Ultra in both single-core and multi-core tests by a huge margin. And it’s now almost confirmed that Samsung would not go for the Plus variant of the latest Snapdragon chip for its foldables.
As per previous leaks and reports, the South Korean tech giant may not bring major design changes in the upcoming foldable phones. However, both Fold and Flip devices may be upgraded to a new kind of droplet hinge to lessen crease and enhance durability.
Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy Z Fold5 and Galaxy Z Flip5 in August 2023. Both models will come pre-installed with Android 13-based One UI 5(.1.1) software, bringing some cool new multitasking features and smoother animations.
Samsung is yet to launch the Galaxy A24, while a number of e-commerce platforms listed its cases online. Following the company’s 2023 signature design, the next budget phone features separate camera sensors, ditching the bump shown on its predecessor.
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According to the rumors, Samsung will soon launch the Galaxy A24 LTE smartphone in a handful of markets, therefore, online platforms making the cases available. Prior to the A24, the company launched the Galaxy A14, Galaxy A34, and Galaxy A54 smartphones.
Apart from the elegant rear design, the Galaxy A24 comes with a side-mounted fingerprint scanner for biometric authentication. The bottom side of the device consists of a loudspeaker grille, a USB Type-C port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Samsung’s next budget device is equipped with a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display with an Infinity-V notch, Full HD+ resolution, a 90Hz refresh rate, and up to 1,000 nits of peak brightness. The company could launch the device in four color shades including Black, Lemon-Green, Red-Burgundy, and Silver.
In terms of optics, the Galaxy A24 could be packed with a 50-megapixel OIS primary camera, a 5-megapixel ultrawide camera, and a 2-megapixel macro camera as well as a 13-megapixel selfie camera. Moreover, the phone could have a MediaTek Helio G99 processor and a 5,000mAh battery with 25W fast charging.
Samsung could launch the Galaxy A24 smartphone in the coming days.