Google March Android Security Update fixes two high severity vulnerabilities — update now

Android 12
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The March 2025 release of the Android Security Bulletin not only addresses 44 total vulnerabilities — it also patches two active high-severity vulnerabilities that have come under exploitation in the wild. According to Google, CVE-2024-43093 and CVE-2024-50302 have both come under “limited, targeted exploitation” and in response, the company has released two security patch levels.

The two security patch levels are 2025-03-01 and 2025-03-05 which are intended to give flexibility and to quickly address a portion of similar vulnerabilities across all Android devices.

The two high-severity vulnerabilities are both privilege escalation flaws; CVE-2024-43092 is a privilege escalation flaw in the Framework component that could allow unauthorized access in directories or subdirectories, while CVE-2024-50302 is a privilege escalation flaw in the HID USB component of the Linux kernel that could leak to uninitialized kernel memory to a local attacker through specially crafted HID reports.

The first vulnerability, CVE-2024-43092, has been previously flagged by Google as being actively exploited in a November 2024 advisory; however, there are no details as to why the alert was issued for a second time.

The second vulnerability, CVE-2024-50302, is one of three that was used in a zero-day exploit in December 2024 to break into a Serbian youth activist's Android phone. This exploit levied three other vulnerabilities (in this case, CVE-2024-53104, CVE-2024-53197, CVE-2024-50302) to gain elevated privileges and deploy Android spyware dubbed NoviSpy.

These three vulnerabilities reside in the Linux kernel and were patched last year, with CVE-2024-53104 being addressed by Google in the Android Security update last month.

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Amber Bouman
Senior Editor Security

Amber Bouman is the senior security editor at Tom's Guide where she writes about antivirus software, home security, identity theft and more. She has long had an interest in personal security, both online and off, and also has an appreciation for martial arts and edged weapons. With over two decades of experience working in tech journalism, Amber has written for a number of publications including PC World, Maximum PC, Tech Hive, and Engadget covering everything from smartphones to smart breast pumps. 

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