Google has just found a security flaw on a number of Android devices. The issue was supposed to be patched back in December 2017. The phones in question are from different brands, namely, Huawei, Samsung, Xiaomi, Motorola and Google’s own Pixel brand. The devices affected by this issue are Pixel, Pixel 2, Huawei P20, Samsung Galaxy S7, S8 and S9. Xiaomi Redmi 5A, Redmi Note 5, Xiaomi A1, Oppo A3 and Moto Z3.
All these devices will require a new security patch update to fix this issue once and for all. Interestingly enough, after making the announcement, the search giant stated that it has found the flaw seven days ago. According to Google, to explore this security flaw a malware need to be installed with the user’s permission. So if you’re playing safe with any of the above-listed smartphones, then the chances of having problems with this particular issue are near zero. It’s strange that the patch that was pushed back in December 2017 wasn’t later maintained in subsequent versions.
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Google believes that Israel’s NSO Group is using this exploit. It’s a company that has been implicated in attacks on human rights and political activists. We hope to see Google deploying a new incremental update for these devices as soon as possible. Unfortunately, some of these devices are already two-year-old smartphones, so we don’t know if they will ever receive a new update with this security fix.
