Sprint is now rolling out an update that will install the October 2017 Android security patch to the Samsung Galaxy Note 5. This update resolves to 215 vulnerabilities found in Google’s operating system, including six critical security issues found in the media framework of the operating system and a remote code execution vulnerability. In addition, the software upgrade should also fix six vulnerabilities found in Samsung’s proprietary skin. Among the issues found in the manufacturer’s software that was fixed in this software upgrade is the integer overflow flaw that may result in memory corruption. There are no additional features included in the software package and the security fix for the KRACK vulnerability will likely be released in the next security patch.
The update is rolling out automatically and it may take several days before the software upgrade arrives on all devices. However, users may also manually trigger the installation process by going to the device settings and proceeding to the “Software Updates” section. Before downloading the installation file, the user should verify first if there is enough free space in the internal storage to temporarily keep the file. In addition, the user should ensure that the device has enough battery charge to last the entire procedure and they should also backup the contents of the smartphone to a personal computer or a microSD card to prevent loss of data.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 was launched in August 2015 alongside the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus. It is powered by the Exynos 7420 chipset, which is comprised of an octa-core 64-bit CPU that is clocked at up to 2.1GHz. The handset sports a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 2560 by 1440. The rear camera of the smartphone is equipped with a 16-megapixel sensor with optical image stabilization and an aperture size of f/1.9 while the front camera of the handset comes with a 5-megapixel snapper. To keep the lights on, the handset contains a 3,000mAh battery and it supports both fast charging and fast wireless charging in order to quickly top up the device. The device shipped with Android 5.1 Lollipop pre-installed, and Samsung’s proprietary skin is running on top of Google’s operating system. However, since its launch, Samsung has updated the Galaxy Note 5 to Android 6.0 Marshmallow last year and to Android 7.0 Nougat in May of this year.