The Galaxy S21 series is the latest Samsung smartphone to receive the July 2022 Android security patch in the US. The new security update started rolling out to the unlocked variants of the 2021 Samsung flagships late last week and has already reached several carrier networks, including AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Xfinity Mobile, Bluegrass Cellular, Tracfone, and C-Spire. The update should soon hit unlocked Galaxy S21 units on the remaining carriers. It should also soon roll out to carrier-locked variants of the phones. The international versions started getting the July SMR (Security Maintenance Release) early last week.
The latest update for the unlocked Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, and Galaxy S21 Ultra in the US come with firmware version G99*U1UES5CVF5. There aren’t any new features or user-facing changes in tow. But this month’s SMR fixes plenty of security vulnerabilities.
Samsung’s Galaxy S21 series receives the July security update in the US
According to Samsung’s official security bulletin, the July SMR contains fixes for more than 60 vulnerabilities. The majority of these issues only affected the company’s Android-powered devices, with it labeling a handful of them as “high-severity” security flaws. These vulnerabilities compromised Samsung’s Knox security, App Lock, Messages, Finder, App Linker, Telephony UI, Wearable Manager, and many more services. If exploited in the wild, these vulnerabilities could allow attackers to bypass the device’s security.
Along with these Samsung-exclusive issues, the July SMR patched around two dozen Android OS vulnerabilities as well. These security flaws affected the whole crop of Android devices regardless of the manufacturer. Three of those issues were labeled “critical” by Google.
All of these security fixes are now rolling out to the Galaxy S21 series in the US. If you’re using an unlocked Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, or Galaxy S21 Ultra, the update may reach you anytime now if it hasn’t already. Watch out for a notification about the OTA (over the air) rollout. You can also manually check for updates by Settings > Software update and tapping on Download and install.
Note that the Galaxy S21 FE has yet to receive the July security update anywhere. We will let you know when it does. But it shouldn’t be a too-long wait now. Samsung’s software team has been doing wonderfully well lately, often pushing new security updates ahead of time. The July SMR has already rolled out to dozens of Galaxy smartphones and tablets. We will keep you posted as more devices pick it up in the coming days.