EmuiOperating system · Huawei

CVE-2021-22333

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-06-03
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
There is an Improper Validation of Array Index vulnerability in Huawei Smartphone. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may cause code to execute, thus obtaining system permissions.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

CVE-2021-22333 is an improper array index validation vulnerability in Huawei smartphones that allows attackers to achieve code execution with system (root) privileges. The vulnerability stems from insufficient bounds checking when accessing array elements, likely leading to out-of-bounds memory write conditions that can be triggered remotely. With a CVSS 9.8 rating, this is a trivially exploitable flaw requiring no authentication or user interaction.

MitigationApply official Huawei security patches for affected devices immediately; until patches are available, avoid installing applications from untrusted sources and refrain from visiting untrusted websites.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
EmuiOperating system
Affected:= 9.1.0= 9.1.1= 10.0.0= 10.1.0= 10.1.1= 11.0.0
Magic UiOperating system
Affected:= 2.1.1= 3.0.0= 3.1.0= 3.1.1= 4.0.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Confirm Huawei device model
    Navigate to Settings > About Phone on the device and identify the model name (e.g., Huawei P30, Mate 20, etc.)
    Affected if Device is a Huawei smartphone running EMUI or Magic UI firmware
  2. Check EMUI version installed
    Navigate to Settings > About Phone > EMUI Version and record the exact version number displayed
    Affected if Installed EMUI version is 9.1.0, 9.1.1, 10.0.0, 10.1.0, 10.1.1, or 11.0.0
  3. Check Magic UI version installed
    Navigate to Settings > About Phone > Magic UI Version (or EMUI Version on Magic UI devices) and record the exact version number displayed
    Affected if Installed Magic UI version is 2.1.1, 3.0.0, 3.1.0, 3.1.1, or 4.0.0
  4. Verify Android security patch level
    Navigate to Settings > About Phone > Build Number or Settings > Security > Security Patch Level to check the installed security update
    Affected if Security patch level is earlier than the official fix release date for this CVE

The device is affected if it is a Huawei smartphone running any of the specific EMUI versions (9.1.0 through 11.0.0) or Magic UI versions (2.1.1 through 4.0.0) listed as affected, and the vendor security patch addressing this vulnerability has not been applied.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply official Huawei security patches for affected devices immediately; until patches are available, avoid installing applications from untrusted sources and refrain from visiting untrusted websites.

Fix this in Emui Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $880
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-22333 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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