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Samsung has released the June 2023 security update for the Galaxy S21 series in the US. The update is available for both carrier-locked and unlocked units of the 2021 flagship trio. International versions of the phones picked up the June SMR (Security Maintenance Release) a couple of days back.
The latest security patch for the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, and Galaxy S21 Ultra comes with the firmware build numbers G99*USQS7EWF1 (carrier-locked) and G99*U1UES7EWE1 (unlocked) in the US. The update is widely available for users on pretty much every carrier network. Samsung should soon cover the remaining few networks (if any) as well.
The official changelog supplied by the Korean firm for this Galaxy S21 update only mentions this month’s security fixes. And that’s probably it. Don’t expect any major user-facing changes or new features here. The latest firmware release for these phones is all about the new security patches, which are plenty in numbers (more on that later).
As said earlier, Samsung has already released the June SMR for the Galaxy S21 series in international markets. But the rollout doesn’t seem to have expanded beyond Europe. Users in Europe are getting some device stability and reliability improvements along with the new security fixes. Those are nothing but some software optimizations.
Samsung has also rolled out the June SMR to the Galaxy S21 FE in the US and some international markets. But it’s only available for factory-unlocked units stateside. The company should soon cover the remaining units globally. This phone isn’t getting any additional goodies, either. The update only brings this month’s security fixes.
Samsung’s June update for the Galaxy S21 series patches dozens of vulnerabilities
The June SMR for Galaxy devices contains fixes for more than 60 vulnerabilities. Samsung’s official security bulletin states that 11 of those are Galaxy-specific issues, while the other 50 patches concern Android OS issues. As you might expect, not all 60-odd vulnerabilities exist in every model, but every Galaxy device is affected by a few of them. Google says that at least three Android OS issues patched this month were critical.
If you’re using a Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, Galaxy S21 Ultra, or Galaxy S21 FE, these security fixes are coming your way. Watch out for a notification about the OTA (over-the-air) rollout and install the new update as soon as you can. Samsung lets you manually check for updates from the Software update menu of your Galaxy phone’s Settings app.