Google Releases Nexus Factory Images With April Android Security Update

Google released its monthly security update for April earlier this month flagging eight vulnerabilities that were marked as "critical" by the company. Soon after, the company had removed MOB30D builds for the Nexus 9 and Nexus 7 Wi-Fi. Now, the company has re-released M0B30D factory images, this time for more devices including the Nexus 6, Nexus Player, and Nexus 5. It's worth noting that the Pixel C tablet is missing from the updated factory image list. Additionally, T-Mobile has started rolling out an update for the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge that includes the April Android security patch.

According to Google, the latest build MHC19Q is available for the Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X; the MOB30D build is available for the Nexus 6, Nexus Player, Nexus 9, Nexus 9 LTE, and Nexus 5; MMB29X for the Nexus 6, Nexus 5, Nexus 9 LTE, and Nexus (2013) 7 Mobile, and LMY49J for the Nexus 10. Users can manually download and flash the zip update file for the Nexus devices from Google's Nexus Factory Images page.

In its Nexus Security Bulletin for April, Google had noted the Android security update fixed one of the most severe Stagefright security vulnerabilities that could enable remote code execution on an affected device through multiple methods (such as email, Web browsing, and MMS) when processing media files.

The critical security vulnerabilities fixed in the update by Google included remote code execution vulnerability in DHCPCD, which if left untreated could enable attacker to cause memory corruption. Other vulnerabilities such as remote code execution vulnerability in media codec, remote code execution vulnerability in mediaserver, and remote code execution vulnerability in libstagefright could allow an attacker to cause memory corruption and remote code execution as the mediaserver process during media file and data processing of a specially crafted file.

In other news, T-Mobile update (via Android Central) for the Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge brought various improvements and stability fixes, apart from the April Android security update - which may signal a similar rollout for other Galaxy S7 variants across the world. It included improved stability of recording video; improved overall device performance; optimised battery life, and improved security of the device.