Security service Trend Micro on Wednesday reported a device-crashing glitch in the widely used smartphone operating system. This follows another major bug that was revealed by separate researchers Monday.
"We have discovered a vulnerability in Android that can render a phone apparently dead -- silent, unable to make calls, with a lifeless screen," Trend Micro engineer Wish Wu wrote in a blog post.
The bug is apparently able to target Android devices running versions 4.3 through 5.1.1, the current release -- which amounts to more than half of all Android devices on the planet.
That said, you probably don't have to worry so much about this one. In contrast to the "Stagefright" bug reported Monday, which could gain access to a user's phone from a simple media message, this new vulnerability apparently requires an individual to interact with a malicious app or website.
Also, this latest bug can be fixed just by restarting your device. In other words, it's not incredibly dangerous: If you exercise sound judgment when downloading apps or navigating the web, you'll probably be fine.
Even so, Google, which makes the operating system, is addressing it.
"We will provide a fix in a future version of Android," a spokeswoman for Google told The Huffington Post.
When that happens, there's a good chance it could take awhile to reach your device, as a cybersecurity expert explained to HuffPost earlier this week. Android phones come from a diverse line of companies, which don't always rush to implement fixes.
That fact coupled with high-profile security glitches has prompted some major criticism of the operating system in recent days. Of course, glitches may be getting more attention than normal this week thanks to the upcoming Black Hat security conference -- where representatives from both Trend Micro and Zimperium, the firm behind the Stagefright discovery, are speaking.
As usual, if you're prompted to update your phone's software in the coming days, you should do so to avoid being targeted by threats like this.
