It’s always a good idea to keep your Android smartphone up to date with the latest available software and security updates, but it seems as though there’s a particularly good reason to make sure you have the newest patch installed this month.

Google has just released its monthly Android Security Bulletin for March 2026, and after a couple of months to start the year with no major bugs or issues to report, there seems to be a big vulnerability the firm has had to fix.

When Google releases a security bulletin, the software update is usually pushed out immediately to Google Pixel phones around the world. This is one of the advantages of owning a Google-made Android phone – you’ll get the fixes first.

All other Android phone makers, including Samsung, Xiaomi, OnePlus and Nothing, get access to all the fixes, but they have to work to implement them themselves before sending out over the air as a free software update for their users, so it normally takes a bit longer.

Overall, Google’s update fixes 129 issues, a number Adam Boynton, Senior Enterprise Strategy Manager at security firm Jamf said is “a new record”.

Google said the most severe issue “is a critical security vulnerability in the System component that could lead to remote code execution with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.”

Though the technical language used here is certainly not the most clear, the found flaw in Android has Google spooked because it’s a ‘zero-day’ threat, which means it’s already being exploited out there in the world. Add to that the fact users don’t even need to be tricked into doing anything to fall victim to it means it’s a particularly high risk.

To be clear, the chances of you currently falling foul of a hacker via your Android phone is incredibly slim, but it’s still best to download your most recently available Android update and get it installed as soon as possible.

“The vulnerability is an integer overflow in the Graphics subcomponent that means an attacker cause severe memory corruption allowing them to bypass security controls and gain unauthorised control over the system,” Boynton said.

“While Google patches these vulnerabilities, OEMs and carriers control when it reaches the device in someone’s pocket. In enterprise environments, that gap can stretch from days to months – and during that window, the vulnerability is public and the device is exposed.”

That means if you have a work-issued Android device, it might be up to your employer to push out the update to you.

But if your personal phone is an Android, make sure to keep checking the software update section of your settings app this month and install the new March update when you get it,

If you think your phone may no longer be receiving software updates, it could be time to upgrade. Google and Samsung offer up to seven years of software updates on many of their phones these days, which is much better than Android makers have offered historically.