CVE-2021-22451
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 · uneditedA component of the HarmonyOS has a Integer Overflow or Wraparound vulnerability. Local attackers may exploit this vulnerability to cause memory overwriting.
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 confidenceA component of Huawei's HarmonyOS contains an integer overflow or wraparound vulnerability that can be exploited by local attackers to overwrite memory, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution or privilege escalation.
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= 2.0CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify HarmonyOS devicesInventory all devices in your environment running Huawei's HarmonyOS operating system. Check device settings or system information panels for the OS identifier.Affected if Any device is running HarmonyOS (the vulnerability is in a HarmonyOS component)
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Check HarmonyOS versionOn each HarmonyOS device, navigate to Settings > About Phone > Version, or use the system information command available on the device, to determine the exact HarmonyOS version number.Affected if The installed version is exactly 2.0 (the CVE specifies = 2.0 as affected)
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Verify local attack surfaceAssess whether untrusted local users or applications can access the device or certain device functions. Check if third-party applications have permissions that could allow local exploitation.Affected if The device allows local untrusted access or installs applications from untrusted sources, enabling a local attacker to reach the vulnerable component
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Check for vulnerable component accessDetermine if the specific HarmonyOS component containing the integer overflow is accessible. Since the CVE does not identify which component, review which system services or modules are exposed to local users.Affected if A local attacker can invoke or interact with the vulnerable component that contains the integer overflow flaw
A user is affected if they have devices running HarmonyOS version 2.0 that allow local attacker access to the vulnerable component with the integer overflow.
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 the vendor-supplied HarmonyOS security patch (HUAWEI-SA-20210311-01) to all affected devices. Inventory all HarmonyOS devices in the environment and schedule OS updates through official Huawei update channels.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-22451 — 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-2021-22451 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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- 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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