Google has a Project Zero team that analyzes software and hardware, looking for vulnerabilities that could allow malicious attackers to infiltrate various devices. This team found a very serious vulnerability that allows hackers to remotely control devices on Google phones like the Pixel 7 and 6 series, some Vivo phones and many Samsung phones like the Galaxy S22.
This vulnerability is caused by Exynos modems inside the devices. Until manufacturers, including Google, make the necessary security patches, users are advised to turn off the two phone features to eliminate the risk of hacking. These features are VoLTE and Wi-Fi calls. We can say that turning them off will not affect your overall phone experience.
VoLTE allows you to make calls over 4G when turned on and this feature improves the overall quality of phone calls. Wi-Fi calling, on the other hand, helps you make calls in areas where the cell phone does not receive well. These features are not the must-have features that come to mind immediately when buying a new phone. Even if you are aware of these features, they probably won’t be very important to you.
You can easily turn these features off from the phone’s Settings app. Once the security updates and Exynos patches start to install, you can enable it again.
Project Zero says there are 18 vulnerabilities in Exynos modems from late 2022 and early 2023. Four of these vulnerabilities are rated critical, including issues that allow an attacker to remotely control phones.
The list of devices affected by these vulnerabilities is as follows:
- Samsung’s mobile devices, including those in the S22, M33, M13, M12, A71, A53, A33, A21, A13, A12 and A04 series;
- Vivo’s mobile devices, including those in the S16, S15, S6, X70, X60 and X30 series;
- Pixel 6 and Pixel 7 series devices from Google;
- All wearable devices using the Exynos W920 chipset;
- All devices using Exynos Auto T5123 chipset.
Pixel devices received an update this month for one of these vulnerabilities. However, it is still recommended to disable VoLTE and Wi-Fi calling until all vulnerabilities are fixed. As always when it comes to security updates, it’s a good idea to make sure you install them immediately after they become available.
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