Attention 5G Phone Owners: Check if Your Handset is on this List of over 700 Devices Requiring Immediate Updates!

University researchers in Singapore have discovered some problems with 5G modems produced by Qualcomm and MediaTek. The vulnerabilities in these modems could leave as many as 714 5G phones open to an attack called “5Ghoul”. This attack can cause issues with mobile 5G service on affected phones, such as freezing or dropping the signal temporarily, and even downgrading the 5G signal to 4G.

The researchers who found these issues have confirmed that three out of the 10 vulnerabilities related to 5G modems from Qualcomm and MediaTek are of “high severity”. The problems can be exploited by attackers who set up a fake 5G base station, without needing any information from the user’s SIM card.

The list of affected smartphones is long and includes many popular models. The researchers have recommended that if your phone is on the list of affected models, you should make sure to install all updates available for your phone to protect against this 5Ghoul attack.

Both Qualcomm and MediaTek have released patches for these vulnerabilities, but due to the fragmentation of the Android operating system, it could take some time for all affected Android phones to receive the updates. Additionally, some older phones may never receive these patches if they lose support before the update is released.

It is important for users of 5G phones to stay up-to-date with any available updates for their devices to protect against potential security issues.