 In December 2012 , two hardware issues were reported by users of the S III : A vulnerability of the Exynos SoC allowed malicious apps to gain root privileges even on unrooted devices , and a spontaneous bricking of the unit , called the " sudden death vulnerability " , that occurs about six months after activation . Samsung has been replacing the mainboards of affected units under warranty . In January 2013 , Samsung released a firmware update that corrected both issues . 
