Apps
Samsung Galaxy Store had critical auto apps installation flaws
Researchers from the NCC Group discovered two CVEs in Samsung’s official app store. As detailed by the researchers, these two flaws in Samsung Galaxy Store could enable attackers to install any app without the user’s knowledge or to direct victims to a malicious web location.
Fixed with Samsung Galaxy Store app version 4.5.49.8, the flaws were discovered by NCC Group researchers between November 23 and December 3, 2022. In a recent development, researchers at NCC Group disclosed (via Mishaal Rahman) technical details for the two security issues with proof-of-concept.
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Technical details and backend code aside, let’s discuss the impact of these security flaws on Samsung devices.
These CVEs could not have affected devices running the latest Android 13-based One UI 5. As noted in the report, a pre-installed rouge application on a Samsung device running Android 12 or below can abuse this issue to install any application currently available on Galaxy App Store.
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In order to fix these CVEs, the South Korean tech giant has pushed an updated version of the Galaxy Store (version 4.5.49.8). In case you have a Galaxy device running below Android 12, you should install the latest version of Galaxy Store to ensure your data privacy.
NCC Group found that “a webview within the Galaxy App Store contained a filter that limited which domains that webview could browse to.” Regardless the developers have not correctly configured it, which would allow the webview to browse to an attacker-controlled domain.
Galaxy Store CVEs:
- Technical Advisory: Improper access control could allow local attackers to install applications from the Galaxy App Store (CVE-2023-21433)
- Technical Advisory: Improper input validation could allow local attackers to execute JavaScript by launching a web page (CVE-2023-21434)
Proof-of-concept
Samsung has kicked off the March 2023 update for the Reminder app, which carries version 12.4.03.8. The latest update adds new features to the app to provide a better experience.
March 2023 update for the Samsung Reminder app brings the Edit category button to More options. Now, you can edit the category of the Reminders easily.
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In addition, the update also added a View details button to check notification details separately on the lock screen where notification details are set to be hidden. Whenever a notification arrives, you can click on the View Details option to check the details of that reminder, which are usually hidden on the lock screen.
Apart from this, the company also fixes common Samsung Reminders issues that users were facing in the previous update. The latest update is available on Galaxy Store, which weighs 24.74 MB package.
Through Galaxy Store, you can install the latest update by tapping the Updates option under the Menu of the app. We recommend users download the latest update to enjoy the new features of the Reminder app on their Galaxy smartphone.
Samsung Reminder new update #samsung #SamsungReminder #OneUI pic.twitter.com/8xqw2xfndC
— Samsung Software Updates (@SamsungSWUpdate) March 16, 2023
The update is compatible with Galaxy devices running Android 13-based One UI 5.1 or One UI 5.0. It is an initial rollout so it may take some hours/days to reach all eligible Galaxy devices.
Samsung Reminder 12.4.02.600 update now available for One UI devices
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy and One UI 5.1 software deliver an exceptional experience on the Galaxy S23 flagships. One UI 5.1 is the smoothest Android skin of Samsung, but scrolling the Galaxy Store app is the worst experience, for some Galaxy S23 users.
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According to reports, the display refresh rate drops below 60Hz while scrolling in Galaxy Store on the Samsung Galaxy S23 series. This reduced refresh rate destroys the pro-grade user experience, which is available on other, even third-party applications.
When you scroll the screen in Galaxy Store, you would face stutter (a low refresh rate) on all Galaxy S23 smartphone models. Even, you might head toward system Settings to ensure whether your phone running on Adaptive motion smoothness or not.
It’s worth mentioning that the low refresh rate support for Galaxy Store feels like budget phone usage to the S23 consumers. And probably, it might not be an S23-limited issue, as Samsung’s own app distribution platform doesn’t feel smooth on more Galaxy phones too.
There are also talks that the recent firmware update destroyed Galaxy Store’s scrolling smoothness on the Galaxy S23 series. Anyway, Samsung must look into the matter and re-optimize the Galaxy Store for the latest flagship, custom chipset, and the new One UI 5.1 software.
If you are facing the same issue on your Galaxy S23 phone, try clearing the Galaxy Store cache and user data once, followed by a reboot. It should somehow make the experience better, and as a temporary solution, we suggest you access Galaxy Store only for One UI app updates, as everything is already available on Play Store.
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Google Play Store received this month’s first update on March 2nd. Now, Google started to release version 34.9.11 update to the Play Store app market as part of the 5th release in March 2023.
As always, there’s no changelog for the Google Play Store version 34.9.11 update. However, the company may have added under-the-hood improvements in order to enhance your experience while discovering apps, games and other stuff along with refined download and install functions.
How to update Play Store officially:
- Open Google Play Store app, hit the Profiles icon to expand the options
- Tap the 2nd last option entitled “Settings” followed by “About”
- You’ve reached the destination, finally hit “Update Play Store”
Google Play Store update usually gets downloaded in the background as soon as the release becomes available on your device. When you restart your phone, the installation begins and concludes quickly so you can have the latest version of the app market.
Not recommended | You can also sideload the latest version before its public release via APKMirror.