Android

Android is the open-source mobile operating system developed by Google, built on the Linux kernel and licensed under Apache 2.0 and GPL. It is the world's most widely deployed mobile OS, running on an estimated 72 per cent of global smartphones across Google's own Pixel range and manufacturers including Samsung, Xiaomi and Oppo. Its architecture layers the Linux kernel, a hardware abstraction layer, the Android Runtime, and a Java-based Framework API managing app permissions and hardware access, with applications sandboxed via SELinux and an explicit-consent permission model.

Android's fragmentation across manufacturers and carriers means security-update timelines vary widely from Google's own Pixel reference track, despite a monthly Android Security Bulletin. That gap became concrete when CVE-2025-48595, an integer-overflow elevation-of-privilege flaw in the Android Framework affecting versions 14, 15 and 16, was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on 2 June 2026 with a 5 June federal patch Deadline, a severity-8.4 flaw letting a malicious app silently take full device control.

That combination, a dominant but fragmented platform now also a named DMA gatekeeper surface, is why both its patch cadence and its interoperability obligations draw regulatory attention beyond ordinary product updates.