April security patch rolling out to Pixel/Nexus devices, factory images and OTAs live

Abner Li | Apr 2 2018 - 10:17 am PT

We still have several more months with Android 8.1 as Google’s latest stable operating system even after the P Developer Preview in early March. Today, the April security patch is rolling out with the perfunctory bug fixes and security updates for Pixel and Nexus devices.

There are 19 issues resolved in the April security patch dated 2018-04-01 and 43 for 2018-04-05. Vulnerabilities range from high to critical, with the most severe relating to the media framework and possibly permitting a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code through a “crafted file.”

The latter patch date also includes 250 Qualcomm closed-source components from 2014-2016. Google notes that “many Android devices may have already addressed these issues in prior updates” and that it was included in April’s bulletin to “associate them with a security patch level.”

As usual, Google notes that there are no reports of customers being affected by these security issues. Google cited in its 2017 year in review of Android security that 30% more devices are getting these patches compared to the year prior.

The dedicated bulletin for Google’s phones and tablets lists 41 security fixes and 56 functional updates. For more about the latter set of changes, visit our post covering the updates for Nexus, Pixel, and Pixel 2.

The full download and OTA links are below. If you need help, check out our guides on how to flash a factory image or sideload an OTA.