Android’s patch for February 2022 is rolling out. It solves 36 vulnerabilities identified in the operating system.
Google shared a new list of fixes for Android, which will be rolling out to smartphones over the coming days and weeks as part of the February 2022 patch. Specifically, Google introduced two: a generic, which is aimed at all models of partner brands, and one specific to Pixel, the range of Google.
A patch for recent Android smartphones.
These patches cover the most recent versions of Android, the oldest known being Android 10, released in November 2019. The problems identified, 36 in number, are classified at a fairly high threshold on the severity scale: 34 are qualified as serious, 2 as critical. Google does not mention a possible malicious exploitation.
The manufacturer’s patch monitoring policy does not extend beyond a few years per device. Thus, a smartphone marketed at the end of the 2010 decade does not necessarily have a guarantee of getting the February update. This is the case for example of the Pixel 3, released relatively recently (it was launched in France in November 2018), which is discarded.
On a help page, Google confirms that Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL no longer receive Android security or version updates — neither did previous models, by the way. Later generations do not have this problem, at least for the moment: from May 2022, however, the Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL will be removed from the update cycle.
” Pixel 3a, 3a XL, 4, 4 XL, 4a, 4a (5G), 5 and 5a (5G) phones receive Android security and version updates for at least three years from the date of initial availability of the device on the Google Store in the United States “comments Google. Regarding the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, the duration is longer: five years.
