Google has started rolling out its monthly Android security update for March. The new release is initially pushed as an OTA update for Pixel and Nexus range of devices.
The March Android security update fixes 22 highly severe issues and 11 critical issues within the open source platform. There are also patches for vulnerabilities that are common to all Android devices.
“The most severe of these issues is a critical security vulnerability that could enable remote code execution on an affected device through multiple methods such as email, web browsing and MMS when processing media files,” Google writes in the monthly updated Android Security Bulletin.
Two security patch level strings have been circulated to Android partners. The partial security patch level string (2017-03-05) brings fixes for 39 known issues, whereas the security patch level string (2017-03-01) has fixed 21 reported issues. Furthermore, the former partial security level patch has addressed all the past issues associated with the 2017-03-01 and 2017-03-05 patches.
Security patches to code in the pipeline
Google is likely to update the source code with security patches in Android Open Source Project (AOSP) in next few days. In the meantime, you can receive the improved experience by downloading the factory images and enable a manual update on your compatible devices.
The list of devices that are compatible with the latest rollout includes Google Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel C, Nexus 6P, Nexus 6, Nexus 5X and Nexus 9. Pixel users can download Nougat based build NOF27B, while Nexus users need to download N4F26T and NUF26N build depending upon the region.
