CVE-2021-22448
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 · uneditedThere is an improper verification vulnerability in smartphones. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may cause unauthorized read and write of some files.
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 confidenceThis is an improper verification vulnerability in smartphones where the system fails to properly validate file access requests. Successful exploitation allows an attacker to unauthorizedly read and write to certain files on the affected device, potentially leading to data exfiltration or manipulation.
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= 9.1.0= 9.1.1= 10.0.0= 10.1.0= 10.1.1= 11.0.0= 2.1.1= 3.0.0= 3.1.0= 3.1.1= 4.0.0CVSS 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
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm device is a Huawei smartphoneCheck the device Settings > About Phone > Manufacturer or model name. This vulnerability only affects Huawei devices running EMUI or Magic UI.Affected if The device is not made by Huawei, then it is not affected by this CVE.
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Identify the EMUI versionOn the Huawei phone, go to Settings > About Phone > EMUI Version. Note the exact version number displayed.Affected if The installed EMUI version equals 9.1.0, 9.1.1, 10.0.0, 10.1.0, 10.1.1, or 11.0.0.
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Identify the Magic UI versionOn the Huawei phone, go to Settings > About Phone > Magic UI Version. Note the exact version number displayed.Affected if The installed Magic UI version equals 2.1.1, 3.0.0, 3.1.0, 3.1.1, or 4.0.0.
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Check if file access validation is properly enforcedThis vulnerability allows unauthorized file access. Test by attempting to read or write to sensitive system directories through an untrusted application. The vulnerability exists when an app can access files outside its intended sandbox without proper permission grants.Affected if An application without elevated privileges can read or write to files outside its allowed scope, indicating the vulnerability is present.
A Huawei smartphone running EMUI or Magic UI versions matching the affected list above is vulnerable to unauthorized file access until the vendor patch is applied.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataApply vendor-supplied security patches and firmware updates for affected smartphone models. Restrict file system permissions and monitor for suspicious file access patterns until patches are available.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA6.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $11,776.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-22448 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-22448 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data