Wear OS Security Bulletin—November 2023

Published November 6, 2023

The Wear OS Security Bulletin contains details of security vulnerabilities affecting the Wear OS platform. The full Wear OS update comprises the security patch level of 2023-11-05 or later from the November 2023 Android Security Bulletin in addition to all issues in this bulletin.

We encourage all customers to accept these updates to their devices.

Announcements

  • There are no Wear OS security patches in the November 2023 Wear OS Security Bulletin.

Common questions and answers

This section answers common questions that may occur after reading this bulletin.

1. How do I determine if my device is updated to address these issues?

To learn how to check a device's security patch level, read the instructions on the Google device update schedule.

    Security patch levels of 2023-11-01 or later address all issues associated with the 2023-11-01 security patch level.

Device manufacturers that include these updates should set the patch string level to:

  • [ro.build.version.security_patch]:[2023-11-01]

For some devices on Android 10 or later, the Google Play system update will have a date string that matches the 2023-11-01 security patch level. Please see this article for more details on how to install security updates.

2. What do the entries in the Type column mean?

Entries in the Type column of the vulnerability details table reference the classification of the security vulnerability.

Abbreviation Definition
RCE Remote code execution
EoP Elevation of privilege
ID Information disclosure
DoS Denial of service
N/A Classification not available

3. What do the entries in the References column mean?

Entries under the References column of the vulnerability details table may contain a prefix identifying the organization to which the reference value belongs.

Prefix Reference
A- Android bug ID
QC- Qualcomm reference number
M- MediaTek reference number
N- NVIDIA reference number
B- Broadcom reference number
U- UNISOC reference number

4. What does an * next to the Android bug ID in the References column mean?

Issues that are not publicly available have an * next to the corresponding reference ID. The update for that issue is generally contained in the latest binary drivers for Pixel devices available from the Google Developer site.

5. Why are security vulnerabilities split between this bulletin and device / partner security bulletins, such as the Pixel bulletin?

Security vulnerabilities that are documented in this security bulletin are required to declare the latest security patch level on Android devices. Additional security vulnerabilities that are documented in the device / partner security bulletins are not required for declaring a security patch level. Android device and chipset manufacturers may also publish security vulnerability details specific to their products, such as Google, Huawei, LGE, Motorola, Nokia, or Samsung.

Versions

Version Date Notes
1.0 November 6, 2023 Bulletin Published