14 DAY TRIAL // Google released on Monday the April 2018 Android Security Patch for supported Pixel and Nexus devices, addressing more than 40 security vulnerabilities and bugs.
The Android Security Patch level April 2018 is currently rolling out to Google Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, and Pixel C devices, addressing 19 security vulnerabilities in the 2018-04-01 security patch level, and 43 security vulnerabilities in the 2018-04-05 security patch level. Affected components include the Android runtime, System, Kernel, Framework, Broadcom and Qualcomm components, and Media framework.
"The most severe of these issues is a critical security vulnerability in Media framework that could enable a remote attacker using a specially crafted file to execute arbitrary code within the context of a privileged process. The severity assessment is based on the effect that exploiting the vulnerability would possibly have on an affected device, assuming the platform and service mitigations are turned off for development purposes or if successfully bypassed," reads the security bulletin.
Google addresses functionality issues for supported devices
In addition to the security vulnerabilities described by Google in April's security bulletin, supported Google Pixel and Nexus devices received patches for various other security vulnerabilities, along with fixes for some functionality issues mostly to improve the performance and connectivity of these devices, but also to improve other parts like messaging, battery, logging, certification, audio, GPS, and the user interface.
Among these, we can mention better handover from VoLTE to VoWi-Fi during Emergency calls and improved microvideo performance in Google Camera on Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2, and Pixel 2 XL, better lock screen performance for all Google devices, improved magnetic sensor performance and Wi-Fi stability on Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL, as well as improved VoLTE performance for various mobile carriers on Nexus 5X, Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2, and Pixel 2 XL.
A complete list of all the improvements can be found in the Pixel / Nexus Security Bulletin for April 2018 that Google published today, along with detailed information on the addressed security vulnerabilities. We recommend all users to update their Google devices, including Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, and Pixel C, to April 2018's Android Security Patch as soon as possible.