Zero-day of Linux 3.8 is not an issue on Android: Google releases the fix
Not all Android devices are vulnerable to zero-day flaw discovered on Linux 3.8, for precautionary reasons, Google has already released the fixes to Android hardware manufacturers.
After being taken by surprise by the news of the serious flaw in the Linux 3.8 released this week by Perception Point kernel, Google has quickly developed a patch for the devices involved in this field by sending it to smartphone makers. The updates on individual smartphone should arrive in a few days or a few weeks, Google is keen to quell the alarmism have seen that the vulnerability is not considered as serious as described by security signatures.
According to the company, the vulnerability does not directly affect several Android devices, because not all models incorporate a portion of a code. In the Android world the kernel version of the device, not simply depends on the installed version of Android, but more specifically by the design choices made by the producer. This is especially true for older devices, which was not always updated firmware in the kernel based on the latest versions of Android.
The most modern devices are also protected, as by Android 5.0 Lollipop and subsequent module is used SELinux (Security-Enhanced Linux), which according to Google should prevent the use of vulnerable code also in the case where the device’s use. Google notes opposed to those issued by Red Hat and Perception Point, where the company claimed that an attacker could exploit the code bypassing the additional security module Lollipop and later.
According to the words of Google, issued on Adrian Ludwig of Google+, any Nexus device would be vulnerable to exploit made possible on third-party applications. The same as it has stated that the company has prepared a patch that will be required on all devices to obtain the ” level of security patches ” of March 1, 2016, or a date visible in the ” About phone ” indicating that the firmware used It contains all security patches released up to that date.
