Samsung has issued a critical update for Galaxy smartphone users, following Google’s warning that a new Android vulnerability risks remote attacks on phones. “User interaction is not needed for exploitation,” it says.

This comes the same week as the long anticipated ( and much delayed ) One UI 8.5 is finally expected to go live on some Galaxy phones — one can assume that Galaxy S25 owners in Korea will be first to see the new, general release.

CVE-2026-0073 is one of two critical fixes in Samsung’s May release , the other being CVE-2026-0051. There are also a raft of high-severity fixes from both Google and Samsung. The usual advice applies. Update your phone as soon as you can.

While monthly security updates are important, most Galaxy owners are much more focused on the delayed One UI 8.5 upgrade, which is all about security , as Samsung brings Google’s and its own innovations to phones. The OS has been running for months on the new Galaxy S26, even though last year’s Galaxy S25 is still without.

“May is going to be a crucial month for Samsung fans,” SammyFans says. “The next few weeks will be dedicated to endless software rollouts. Stable One UI 8.5 update is expected to land on various devices, potentially carrying May patches.”

Meanwhile, the merry-go-round, where Samsung tracks behind Pixel for new versions of Android, seems never ending. Per SamMobile , “as millions of Galaxy users wait for Samsung to begin the official One UI 8.5 rollout, the company has already been working on One UI 9.0 for several devices for at least a few weeks.”

Echoes of the wait for One UI 8 before One UI 7 has completed. “It now appears Samsung has also begun internal testing of the first One UI 9 beta builds for the Galaxy S26 series, even though the One UI 8.5 beta program is still ongoing.”