This update decision comes as a surprise.
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Updated on Dec. 5 as Samsung starts to deploy its critical new update.
Samsung has taken more than its fair share of criticism in recent months on the upgrade and update fronts. One UI 8 and now One UI 8.5 beta delays and a monthly security update that appears overly complex to users — users whose phones are out of action for a prolonged time when they do update, given the lack of seamless updates.
But here’s some good news. Per SammyFans, “Samsung has surprised Galaxy S21 users with another software update.” These are five-year-old devices that have now been relegated from monthly to quarterly updates. “But Samsung has now released three updates in just over three months.” And these are security fixes that matter.
The Galaxy S21’s latest firmware release “installs the November 2025 security patch, which improves system security and stability to provide a better Galaxy experience.”
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One of those improvements better protects the fingerprint sensor, preventing “unauthorized access.” Another is especially topical, enhancing the security of wired USB connections, which has become a major focus over recent months.
The USB defense “helps protect the phone when plugging it into different devices or chargers,” which defends against the controversial threat from juice jacking. This is when a public charging point is actually a computer, stealing data unlocked devices.
That’s topical because it’s holiday season, which means airports, hotels and response. Public charging points — just like public Wi-Fi — becomes a much bigger deal.
Per SammyGuru, “the update is now live in Europe, carrying the firmware build version HYK1. It improves overall device security and system stability, ensuring a smoother and more reliable experience. Samsung previously revealed that the November 2025 SMR addresses over 40 vulnerabilities across the Galaxy lineup.”
These phones may be getting patched, but they’re not getting upgraded. They’ve reached the end of the road on that front. While it’s good news that security fixes are coming early, this won’t persist for long. If you have one of these phones, you should really upgrade to something newer that gets monthly updates as normal, not by exception.
Meanwhile, the more critical December security update has also started to deploy. Per SammyFans, the Galaxy-maker “has now started rolling it out for one of the popular Galaxy A series smartphones, the Galaxy A34 5G.”
December’s update is huge. There are more than a hundred fixes across core Android and Samsung specific platforms. More importantly, Google and CISA warn that two of the vulnerabilities patched this month are under active attack. As such, for a Galaxy device to be considered secure, it needs to receive December’s update as well.
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Just as we saw in November, “Samsung is also focusing on providing the latest security patch this month for mid-range devices instead of flagships first.”
SammyGuru says the same. “We can confirm the availability of this month’s security maintenance release (SMR) for the Galaxy S34 5G in Indonesia. The update arrives with the firmware build version A346EXXSBEYK3 and doesn’t bring anything more than the latest security fixes. The device is already running One UI 8.”
No word yet whether the Galaxy S21 will get this new update as well. To be frank, if it does not, then it doesn’t matter it has November’s fixes, it will still be at risk.