Four handsets from the South Korean smartphone manufacturer, Samsung, are now receiving an update that will install the November 2017 Android security patch from Verizon. These smartphones are the Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge Plus, and the Note 5. The update that the carrier is currently distributing has a patch level of November 1, 2017, and it fixes six remote code execution vulnerabilities located in the system portion and the media framework of the operating system. Remote code execution vulnerabilities refer to security flaws that can be exploited by a hacker in order to control the device even from a separate location. In addition, this software upgrade likely resolves six security flaws found in Samsung’s proprietary skin. Also included in the software package is a separate fix for the KRACK vulnerability. This security exploit allows people to intercept data transmitted over a Wi-Fi network by affecting the four-way handshake commonly used by the Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2) protocol. Aside from accessing and gathering private or sensitive data, hackers may also utilize this vulnerability to infect devices with either malware or ransomware.
Verizon users have multiple methods in order to upgrade their devices. One of them is the server-initiated software update method, wherein the user will only have to wait for a notification stating that the upgrade is now available for the unit. Another method is the user-initiated software update method, wherein the user goes to the device settings and proceeds to the “Software updates” menu in order to manually trigger the installation process. If the subscriber is in a location wherein the smartphone cannot be upgraded either through a Wi-Fi connection or through mobile data, the device can be connected to a personal computer and use Samsung’s proprietary tool to install the software package. Before installing the software upgrade, it is important that the files and images stored in the devices are backed up to a personal computer or a microSD card and that the battery of the handset has sufficient charge to last the entire procedure. After installation of the update, the new software builds can be identified with their new firmware version numbers, which are G920VVRS4DQK1 for the Galaxy S6, G925VVRS4DQK1 for the Galaxy S6 Edge, G928VVRS3CQK1 for the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, and N920VVRS3CQK1 for the Galaxy Note 5.
The four devices were unveiled by the South Korean tech giant back in 2015. All of these handsets are powered by the Exynos 7420 processor, and they originally shipped with Android Lollipop pre-installed. However, the operating system of the smartphones has since been upgraded to Android 6.0 Marshmallow and Android 7.0 Nougat.