The April security update for Android was announced last week along with the factory images of the new build being available. For most Nexus device users, the OTA updates will start rolling out this week if you are not carrier locked. If you are, it could be a few more weeks after that. Along with the images, Google has released the Security Bulletin for the update too and it has a wealth of information on what was fixed in the update.
From the Bulletin, there were a total of 8 critical updates fixed in the April update, most having to do with remote code execution vulnerabilities. There was also a fix for the kernel execution issue
Android Marshmallow
which I posted on last month. In addition to these critical updates, there were 13 high priority updates with most of those focused on elevation of privileges within Android. Finally, there were 8 moderate issues fixed in the update. Here is the complete rundown along with Common Vulnerability and Exposures ID (CVE):
| Remote Code Execution Vulnerability in DHCPCD | CVE-2016-1503 CVE-2014-6060 |
Critical |
| Remote Code Execution Vulnerability in Media Codec | CVE-2016-0834 | Critical |
| Remote Code Execution Vulnerability in Mediaserver | CVE-2016-0835 CVE-2016-0836 CVE-2016-0837 CVE-2016-0838 CVE-2016-0839 CVE-2016-0840 CVE-2016-0841 |
Critical |
| Remote Code Execution Vulnerability in libstagefright | CVE-2016-0842 | Critical |
| Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability in Kernel | CVE-2015-1805 | Critical |
| Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability in Qualcomm Performance Module |
CVE-2016-0843 | Critical |
| Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability in Qualcomm RF Component | CVE-2016-0844 | Critical |
| Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability in Kernel | CVE-2014-9322 | Critical |
| Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability in IMemory Native Interface | CVE-2016-0846 | High |
| Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability in Telecom Component | CVE-2016-0847 | High |
| Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability in Download Manager | CVE-2016-0848 | High |
| Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability in Recovery Procedure | CVE-2016-0849 | High |
| Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability in Bluetooth | CVE-2016-0850 | High |
| Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability in Texas Instruments Haptic Driver | CVE-2016-2409 | High |
| Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability in a Video Kernel Driver | CVE-2016-2410 | High |
| Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability in Qualcomm Power Management Component |
CVE-2016-2411 | High |
| Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability in System_server | CVE-2016-2412 | High |
| Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability in Mediaserver | CVE-2016-2413 | High |
| Denial of Service Vulnerability in Minikin | CVE-2016-2414 | High |
| Information Disclosure Vulnerability in Exchange ActiveSync | CVE-2016-2415 | High |
| Information Disclosure Vulnerability in Mediaserver | CVE-2016-2416 CVE-2016-2417 CVE-2016-2418 CVE-2016-2419 |
High |
| Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability in Debuggerd Component | CVE-2016-2420 | Moderate |
| Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability in Setup Wizard | CVE-2016-2421 | Moderate |
| Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability in Wi-Fi | CVE-2016-2422 | Moderate |
| Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability in Telephony | CVE-2016-2423 | Moderate |
| Denial of Service Vulnerability in SyncStorageEngine | CVE-2016-2424 | Moderate |
| Information Disclosure Vulnerability in AOSP Mail | CVE-2016-2425 | Moderate |
| Information Disclosure Vulnerability in Framework | CVE-2016-2426 | Moderate |
| Information Disclosure Vulnerability in BouncyCastle | CVE-2016-2427 | Moderate |
For some readers this will not be all that interesting. However, the takeaway for everyone is that Google is continually working on improving Android and making it more secure.
