News Summary:
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The majority of Android device software crashes are caused by these bugs, which also have a negative impact on stability. Go to Settings > Security & privacy > More security settings and turn on Memory tagging if you’re using the Android 14 Developer Preview, Android 14 Beta, or the stable version of Android 14.
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Mishaal Rahman of XDA discovered Advanced Memory Protection, a security feature for the upcoming Android build, while working with the Android 14 Developer Preview. This is meant to guard against memory safety bugs on mobile devices. According to Google, these “errors in native programming languages’ memory management,” and claims that they “are the most prevalent problem in the Android codebases.” They are responsible for millions of user-visible crashes and more than 60% of high severity security flaws.”
On ARM V9 Central Processing Units (CPU) cores, Memory Tagging Extension (MTE) is a necessary hardware feature that guards against memory violations that could compromise your phone’s security. MTE can therefore shield your system from memory safety flaws. This feature will not function on the Pixel 7 or Pixel 7 Pro because the Google Tensor 2 chip that drives the Pixel 7 series uses ARM’s V8.2 CPU cores.
The Tensor 3 chip will need to make use of ARM V9 CPU cores similar to those found on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipsets for this to be the case. That is presuming Google leaves the feature in place until Android 14’s stable version is released.
The Pixel 8 models, which are not anticipated to be released until the fourth quarter of this year, may be the first smartphones to feature this Android 14 memory protection.
The mid-range Pixel 7a, the Pixel Tablet, the Pixel Fold, and the Pixel 8 series should all be released by Google before the current year ends (but let’s not rush this since the hot weather is just around the corner). We anticipate that the Tensor 3 SoC will only be used in the Pixel 8 series of devices in 2023.
To reiterate, the next full-size non-foldable Pixel line may be the first devices to support Android 14’s new Advanced Memory Protection feature since the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro may be the first devices running Android 14 to feature ARM’s V9 CPU cores. According to Google, “Memory safety bugs are going to grow over time if left unattended given the ever-increasing complexity of code.
This could be the answer to an issue that has harmed Android for a very long time. As far back as the first Android release, memory safety bugs have consistently been the biggest source of Android security flaws, according to Google.
