Samsung smartphones and tablets vulnerable to kernel attack

Posted on Monday, December 17 2012 @ 16:52 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
Samsung logo
ZD Net reports a wide range of Samsung smartphones and tablets with the company's Exynos 4412 and 4210 ARM-based processors are vulnerable to an attack that enables hackers to obtain root access on any of the affected devices.
XDA Developers member alephzain first brought up the vulnerability on the site's forum, claiming that access to the device's physical memory is read-and-write enabled by all users.

With the ability to read and write to memory at will, alephzain said that any application could dump the contents of the device's RAM and/or inject arbitrary code into the kernel. Such manipulations of memory could potentially allow an attacker to extract data and forward it elsewhere, or modify data to present the user with false data while the application does something else. The vulnerability itself also allows devices to be rooted.
The following devices are vulnerable to attack, but the risk seems minimal if you watch out which apps you install on your device.
  • Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I9100
  • Samsung Galaxy S3 GT-I9300
  • Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE GT-I9305
  • Samsung Galaxy Note GT-N7000
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 2 GT-N7100
  • Verizon-based Samsung Galaxy Note 2 SCH-I605
  • Samsung Galaxy Tab Plus GT-P6210
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 GT-N8000
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 GT-N8010
  • Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 GT-N8020.


  • About the Author

    Thomas De Maesschalck

    Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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