Your Android may be hacked — what should be done by users

The Google company has discovered two extremely dangerous vulnerabilities in Android smartphones that allow hackers to gain access to the devices. In total, experts have counted 62 vulnerabilities, but these two pose a particular threat.

GSMinfo writes about it.

What vulnerabilities were found in Android

The found "holes" in the code were actively used for "targeted hacking" with the help of tools from the Israeli company Cellebrite, which is known for digital forensics solutions.

One of the most critical flaws (CVE-2024-53197) was found in the USB-audio (ALSA) driver, which allows for elevated privileges, especially when combined with the recently patched CVE-2024-53104 and CVE-2024-50302 vulnerabilities. Another serious gap is CVE-2024-53150, which can also give attackers full control over a device.

Such vulnerabilities are mainly used against people whose smartphones may contain valuable or confidential information. However, anyone who does not install system updates is at risk. Some users disable them to save traffic or memory, but given the situation, this is extremely dangerous.

To avoid possible problems, you should:

• Enable automatic updates in your phone settings or manually check for them;
• If an OS update is available, install it as soon as possible;
• Make sure that you are using a supported version of Android. The older the system, the greater the risk, as Google no longer releases security patches for it.

Google does not disclose all technical details, but emphasises that users who regularly install updates are more protected from potential hacking.

As a reminder, Samsung has officially started deploying One UI 7 with Android 15 for some of the company's devices. Later, the update will be available to a wider range of users.

We also wrote that the "System updated" inscription on Android is not always true. It may seem like you have all the necessary updates, but some of them may go unnoticed.