Samsung Issues Emergency Update For Most Galaxy Users

Samsung has issued an emergency update to address a critical security vulnerability that affects most Galaxy smartphone users. The company has revised its September security update, which will now be rolled out to all eligible devices running Android 13 or newer.

The threat, identified as CVE-2025-21043, was reported by WhatsApp and is similar to another zero-day vulnerability (CVE-2025-55177) that affected Apple's iPhone last month. According to Samsung, the vulnerability exists in an image-parsing library within their devices, which allows attackers to run malicious code on remote devices.

WhatsApp has also released a patch to address this issue, and Google's Project Zero has shown interest in the security threat due to its past vulnerability. The threat was disclosed on August 13 and affects Android 13, 14, 15, and 16.

Zimperium's Brian Thornton warned that this zero-day exploit shows how fast attackers are shifting to mobile as their entry point. "In this case, a closed-source image library created a broad risk across Samsung devices and the apps that depend on it," he said.

Samsung has confirmed that both WhatsApp and they have released patches to address this issue. The vulnerability can be exploited to gain unauthorized access to a user's device and its stored data. As a result, it has been given a critical severity rating.

How Will Samsung Roll Out the Update?

Samsung faces a challenge in rolling out the update to all users. Unlike Pixel devices or iPhones, where updates are often released globally at once, Samsung's rollout is by model, region, and carrier.

This means that users may face a long wait for the fix, depending on their device and location. However, if your device is on Samsung's monthly update schedule, you will be in line for the patch.

What Can You Do?

The most important thing to do is ensure you install the update as soon as it becomes available. When you install the update, reboot your phone and wait for the security fix to take effect.

While the wait may be long, Samsung's efforts to patch this vulnerability demonstrate their commitment to protecting users' devices and data. Users can rest assured that Samsung is taking steps to address this critical threat, and the emergency update will help prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information.