With Android 13 pretty much out of the way, Samsung seems to have picked up its normal pace for monthly security updates. The company is rapidly rolling out the January 2023 Android security patch to eligible devices. In recent days, it released the latest security update for the Galaxy Note 10 series, Galaxy S21 series and the Galaxy A73 5G. The new SMR (Security Maintenance Release) is now also available for the original Galaxy Z Flip.
This month’s security update is rolling out to both 4G and 5G models of the Galaxy Z Flip. Samsung has started the rollout in Europe. Users with the 4G model will get the update in Italy with firmware version F700FXXSAIVL3 (via). The same update for the 5G model is live in numerous European countries, including Spain, Switzerland, Portugal, the Netherlands and the UK. The updated firmware version for this model is F707BXXS7IVL1.
Samsung should expand this rollout to more regions, including the US, in the coming days. If you’re using the original folding clamshell, go to the Software Update menu in the Settings app and tap Download and Install to manually check for updates. You may also receive a notification on your Galaxy Z Flip asking you to download the update over the air (OTA). Just tap the notification and follow the onscreen instructions to update your foldable. Other eligible Galaxy devices, such as the Galaxy Z Fold 4, will also receive the January security update soon.
The January 2023 update for Galaxy devices fixes over 70 vulnerabilities
In addition to extending the January SMR to the Galaxy Z Flip, Samsung also published the content of the new release today. The latest security patch contains more than 70 vulnerabilities. The vast majority of them (more than 50) are patches from Google’s Android Security Bulletin (ASB). These patches address issues with the Android operating system and other partner components in Android products. They affect the entire Android ecosystem. All ASB vulnerability patches for this month were rated “very severe” by Google.
Aside from the ASB patches, Samsung’s January SMR also fixes some Galaxy-specific vulnerabilities. Called Samsung Vulnerabilities and Exposures (SVE), these are privacy and security flaws in the Korean company’s system components. They do not exist on other brands’ Android products. Samsung says it patched 20 SVE items this month, including a very serious flaw that could allow arbitrary code execution. Most of the others were “moderate” issues affecting various system apps and components, including Secure Folder, Knox Service, NFC, and more.