Google has rolled out a bunch of patches for Android as part of its regular security update cycle. The Nexus lineup will be receiving the fix OTA (over the air). But those who own other brands will have to wait for the respective manufacturer to release the same tailored for their Android devices.
Android has always had the shaky reputation of being a vulnerable platform. With millions of phones and tablets running on it worldwide, it’s an attractive target for hackers everywhere. Besides, Google doesn’t have full control over the platform, which means not all Android device manufacturers feel compelled to issue timely updates.
In 2015, Google (and Samsung) officially announced that monthly security patches would be launched to squash vulnerabilities or bugs on a regular basis. Late player in the Android market, BlackBerry, has already made the latest March patch available for download on the Priv, reports CrackBerry. As the security bulletin on the Android Open Source Project blog notes, partners were given a heads-up about the bugs in question on 1 February 2016 or earlier.
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The most critical security problem which has been mended with this month’s release is a remote code execution vulnerability in Mediaserver and libvpx. An attacker could have exploited this weakness to run malicious code on a user’s device while they engaged media playback through email, web browsing or MMS. This is just one of more than a dozen issues fixed by the latest update.
Owners of Nexus devices or the Pixel C tablet who don’t wish to wait for the March security update can follow this link to download the factory images right away.