How to find out if your phone is vulnerable to the Stagefright bug

Stagefright
Stagefright

Android's Stagefright bug that was discovered back in April meant over 950 million devices were vulnerable to attacks - so Google released a fix to cure them.

Even after much fanfare for Google's update, it's only launched on the Nexus devices meaning you're probably still vulnerable if you're Android user on another device.

Zimperium zLabs found the initial bug and has now released an app to help you identify whether you're at risk.

You're likely not safe

1. First up, download the Stagefright Detector App from the Google Play Store.

2. Once installed fire it up and hit "Begin testing" - it'll run through your phone to see whether you're at risk.

3. If you're at risk, head to Settings > About Phone > Software Updates to see if you've been pushed an update which could potentially resolve the issue.

4. If you are vulnerable we recommend not opening video MMS from strange numbers and also turning off Auto Retrieve SMS when using Hangouts as your main text app.

We ran the app on our LG G4 and were told it is vulnerable to CVE-2015-1539, CVE-2015-3827 and CVE-2015-1538.

We also tried on the HTC One M9, but the app couldn't complete the test. If you experience the same problem download Stagefright Detector by Lookout, as it runs the same test. We were told our One M9 is also at risk.

So far there's no quick fix to make sure you're all OK. It's a case of waiting for Google and manufacturers to roll the update out further.

Samsung, LG and Google have now pledged to roll out monthly security updates to try to combat Stagefright and any other flaws found in the Android OS.

If you're using one of these manufacturers devices it'll be worth keeping an eye on your updates to see when they roll out the fix for Stagefright.

James Peckham

James is Managing Editor for Android Police. Previously, he was Senior Phones Editor for TechRadar, and he has covered smartphones and the mobile space for the best part of a decade bringing you news on all the big announcements from top manufacturers making mobile phones and other portable gadgets. James is often testing out and reviewing the latest and greatest mobile phones, smartwatches, tablets, virtual reality headsets, fitness trackers and more. He once fell over.