The December SMR (Security Maintenance Release) for the Galaxy S10 series in the US is currently limited to carrier-locked units. Samsung is seeding the new security patch with firmware version G97*USQS8IVL1, SamMobile reports. The handsets aren’t getting any new features or enhancements but the latest SMR contains plenty of vulnerability fixes. The company mentions as many as 80 patches in its security bulletin updated earlier this month. As usual, this month’s SMR contains some Galaxy-specific patches as well as patches for vulnerabilities that affect the entire Android ecosystem. The latter concerns issues on various partner components that Android OEMs use to produce a phone. These include everything from the Android OS and other Google apps and services to hardware components from Qualcomm, MediaTek, and more. Every device that features a vulnerable component is at risk of being breached by a remote attacker. Worst yet, some of the flaws patched this month allowed remote code execution. Thankfully, if you’re using an aging Galaxy S10e, Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10+, or Galaxy S10 5G in the US, these security fixes are now headed your way. These phones have already picked up the December SMR in several other markets. Note that the 2019 Samsung flagships are not eligible for Android 13. They also no longer get monthly security updates. Samsung demoted the phones to quarterly updates earlier this month. The lineup will end its life on Android 12 with a handful of security updates to come until then.
The Galaxy A53 5G is widely getting the December update in the US
The December SMR is rolling out widely to the Galaxy A53 5G in the US. The latest premium mid-range offering from Samsung started getting the new security update a couple of weeks back. Unlocked units initially picked up the release with firmware version A536U1UES4AVK5. The same update is now available for carrier-locked units with the build number A536USQS4BVL2. Note that the carrier-locked Galaxy A53 5G is already running Android 13 in the US, while the unlocked units are still running Android 12. Hopefully, Samsung will soon upgrade those models to the latest Android version. If you’re using the unlocked model, you can check for updates from the Software update section in the Settings app on your phone.
