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GOOGLE HAS RELEASED a patch designed to fix a potential security issue but claimed that it isn’t as serious as first suggested.
Security company Perception Point found an issue in the Linux kernel, the core of its Android operating system, which would have allowed attackers a way to take over a device.
It said the flaw had “implications for approximately tens of millions of Linux PCs and servers as well as 66% of Android devices“, but there was no evidence that the flaw had been exploited by anyone.
However, Google responded to the report by saying the number of devices that are affected isn’t as great as claimed, and how it didn’t have the usual 90-day window to investigate the flaw before it was publically released.
“Since this issue was released without prior notice to the Android Security Team, we are now investigating the claims made about the significance of this issue to the Android ecosystem,” said Adrian Ludwig of Android’s security team. “We believe that the number of Android devices affected is significantly smaller than initially reported”.
Ludwig said that both its Nexus devices and Android devices with Lollipop (5.0) or greater are safe since they are protected by SELinux (Security-Enhanced Linux), a security measure that prevents third-party apps from accessing a device’s code. That amounts to a third of all Android devices released (33.3%).
He also said that “many devices running Android 4.4 (KitKat) or earlier do not contain the vulnerable code introduced in Linux kernel 3.8,” suggesting that most Android devices are safe.
Despite that, Google has released a patch that will be implemented on newer Android devices. It’s expected to arrive after 1 March.
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Shocking how many users are on old versions of Android.
A third on KitKat? … Jesus
How can you upgrade?
Send an email to Google & they’ll post you an update CD-ROM.
Thats the thing manufacturers are so slow to update devices. Im using a Hauwei P8 and still waiting on the 6.0 update. All flagship models should be updated as soon as the new versions are released.
Budget android devices mostly run KitKat these days and most companies only upgrade their premium devices to the likes of lollipop or marshmallow.
Once Google release their update to android it takes manufacturers months to integrate their own software with Google’s. Plus its generally different for each model.
It’s like 4.0 jelly bean there was so much on it for such a long time
I am a fond of graphic designing and always keep searching the new ideas about it. thanks for sharing about this topic. Keep sharing.Apps Development Android
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