Google Patches Android Stagefright MMS Exploit, Ships Update To Carriers

Earlier this week, we learned of a scary piece of malware that can strike almost all Android devices in use. As has become a theme of late, the exploit is trigged via a simple text message. While it's easy to assume that you'll be safe simply by not reading any unsolicited text messages from people you don't know, this bug can be effective enough to not even require you to open it.

If the attack is successful, the phone can be remotely accessed in full. That even includes being able to trigger the camera and microphone. Suffice to say, this is a serious bug, and while there's been no proof of it happening in the wild yet, it clearly needs to be patched as soon as possible.

Given the severity of the bug, Google hasn't wasted time on coming up with a fix. Soon, Nexus users will be prompted to install the update, and carriers have also been given a copy. For those running non-official builds of Android or outdated ones, a patch is going to be soon released to the open source community.

With as many text message-related bugs to creep up over this past year, it's clear that further protections have to be put into place. It's really quite bizarre to be able to gain entry to an entire device simply by sending a corrupt text message; years ago, some people might have thought you were crazy if you said such a thing were possible.