You folks remember about a subtle, but very important utility update for the Galaxy S III that was released a few days ago? Well apparently, it does more than just fix the sudden death issue. SamMobile reports that the same update (I9300XXELLA) fixes a well-known security vulnerability found in the Exynos chip. Basically, the vulnerability essentially gave root permissions to any app (again with emphasis— any app), with the result being no control over the permissions from users of the smartphone. Fortunately, it has been identified that the recent update the has actually patched the security vulnerability. Additionally, the update contains new bootloaders which should help to alleviate any sort of possible sudden death issues with the smartphone.
As of now, only owners of the GT-I9300 variant in the UK have received the update, though we’re hopeful that the rest of the GT-I9300 owners out there will get the update sooner than later.
source: SamMobile