Essential Phone gets February security patch right on time

Damien Wilde | Feb 5 2019 - 7:14 am PT

Everyone waxes lyrical about what the Essential Phone offers and one of those things is most definitely the rapid security and OS updates. Right on cue, the Essential Phone has also received the February security patch practically at the same time as Pixel devices.

All whopping 42 bug fixes that were part of the security patch for Pixel phones are present here. Although we may never see an Essential Phone 2 or any other Essential-branded smartphone hardware, their update schedule is most definitely to be envied — even if the controversy surrounding the Andy Rubin startup most definitely is not.

Announced via the almost stagnant official Essential Twitter account. This update will upgrade devices to build PQ1A.190105.014 should you still be using or even own an Essential Phone.

This security update addresses a “critical security vulnerability in Framework that could allow a remote attacker using a specially crafted PNG file to execute arbitrary code within the context of a privileged process”, among other bugs.

We're rolling out February's security patch now. Keep an eye out for the update on your Essential Phone. pic.twitter.com/ljXyFOScpQ

— Essential (@essential) February 4, 2019

The February security patch is rolling out now via an OTA so it’s worth checking manually if you haven’t already received this notification. Or alternatively, the full download and OTA links for the February security patch are below. If you need help, check out our guides on how to flash a factory or OTA image.

February 2019 Release | Pie 9 – P Release 7 – PQ1A.190105.014