Google’s Pixel line-up of smartphones have long been among the best Android devices on the market, and our often touted as examples of what Google thinks a smartphone running its operating system should be. And it’s not just about the hardware and software, Pixel owners also get phones that offer great security, due to receiving constant Android updates for years after release. This includes mitigations for “common exploits on cellular basebands.”
These cellular basebands are what enable a device to connect to cellular networks and are increasingly under scrutiny by security researchers. Unfortunately, researchers are uncovering that many devices don’t provide exploit mitigations for their cellular basebands, which are commonly discovered during software development. With many even foregoing some of the protections offered within Android.
However, Pixel owners can rest easy as Google is focused on hardening its software, with the Pixel 9 sporting the latest security additions that reduce the attack surface for exploits. Bounds Sanitizer and Integer Overflow Sanitizer both prevent attackers from taking advantage of memory corruptions to execute malicious code or create unexpected behavior. Additionally, Stack Canaries and Control Flow Integrity are there to ensure code is executed in an expected manner and not deviating from allowed execution paths.
Google seems to be making the right decisions about where it’s focusing its time and effort to harden these cellular basebands in Android. Memory is a well-known attack vector, and any malicious actors worth their salt will look to exploit this to run unauthorized code on devices.
It’s great to see Google taking security seriously with its devices, although its equally concerning that so many Android device makers are so lax when it comes to the security they’re providing to users. Hopefully, with Google sharing the nitty gritty that goes into securing its Pixel lineup, it can motivate other manufacturers to up the security of their offerings.