If you have an Android phone in your pocket you might not realise the work that goes on behind the scenes to keep your device and the data stored on it safe and private. Every month Google sends out its Android Security Bulletin, with an exhaustive list of all the bugs it has found in Android that, unfortunately, could be exploited by criminals to get at your data.
That’s no different this month, and the August security bulletin that has just been released contains worrying news. As spotted by Bleeping Computer, of 46 flaws found in Android, one could already be being taken advantage of by hackers, potentially leaving thousands of smartphones and tablets at risk, including yours.
The flaw is catchily named CVE-2024-36971, and has been slapped with the dreaded ‘zero day’ rating that means it is being actively exploited on phones. But the good news is once your device has received the latest software update with the new fiixes, it’ll be safe from harm.
“There are indications that CVE-2024-36971 may be under limited, targeted exploitation,” Google said in its releases notes for its August Android Security Bulletin.
“Android partners are notified of all issues at least a month before publication,” it said. “Source code patches for these issues will be released to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) repository in the next 48 hours.”
This refers to the fact phone companies such as Samsung, OnePlus, Motorola and Honor are all told about new security flaws in Android by Google, but it is up to those firms to make sure software updates are created and pushed out to their customers’ devices. So if you go to your device’s Settings app today and there’s no update to download and install, you might have to wait a few more days – but it’s important to update as soon as it comes in.
Samsung confirmed it has created a security update that it will push out to compatible phones this month, so if you have a Galaxy phone, you should be among the first to get the fix. Sometimes Samsung is even quicker than Google at pushing out these software patches.
Samsung and Google recently stepped up the software support promise for their latest devices, with both companies now offering seven years of Android and security updates. That means phones such as this year’s Samsung Galaxy S24 and Google Pixel 8a will get their last software updates in 2031.
Unfortunately, your current Android phone may not get updates for as long, and if you’ve had it for more than three years the updates could have already stopped. If that’s the case there’s not much you can do about it, and though the phone will continue to function for years to come, it will technically be at risk from bugs and flaws such as the one Google has fixed in its latest software update.