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Following closely on the heels of a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 security vulnerability, another Samsung user has found that the bug affects other models.
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Unlike the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 flaw, the bug allows for full access to the Samsung Galaxy S3. The method is similar in that it requires a fleet-fingered user to hop through a number of screens.
As discovered by Sean McMillian, the smartphone can be manipulated by tapping through the emergency call, emergency contacts, home screen, and then the power button twice. McMillian admits that the bug isn’t consistent — sometimes, he said, it works right away, while other times it takes 20 attempts.
Indeed, we weren’t able to replicate the bug after many tries (Engadget was able to do it, but it took a long time). That suggests that would-be snoopers must act quickly and deftly, but the lesson here (and always) is to keep a watchful eye on that $500 on smartphone.
As McMillian indicates, the bug seems to be related to Samsung’s software and not an Android-wide issue. Judging by the similarities in the two flaws, we might expect Samsung to issue software updates to address the concerns.
CNET has contacted Samsung for comment and will update this article with new information.
