CVE-2021-22461
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 Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability. Local attackers may exploit this vulnerability to cause nearby process crash.
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 in Huawei HarmonyOS contains an Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling vulnerability (CWE-770). Local attackers with the ability to execute code on the device can trigger excessive resource consumption (memory, file handles, or other system resources) by a vulnerable component, causing neighboring processes to crash due to resource starvation.
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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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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Determine HarmonyOS versionOn the device, go to Settings > About Phone > Version, or use 'getprop ro.build.version.harmonyos' via ADB shell or terminal emulatorAffected if version number equals 2.0 exactly
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Verify if device can run third-party applicationsCheck if installation of applications from unknown sources is enabled via Settings > Security > More settings > Install unknown apps, or review device policy configurationsAffected if untrusted or unknown applications can be installed or executed on the device
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Check for unusual process terminationsReview system logs via 'dmesg' or 'logcat' in ADB shell for signs of process crashes, or monitor device behavior for frequent app closuresAffected if multiple neighboring processes are crashing or being terminated unexpectedly, indicating resource starvation
The device is affected if HarmonyOS version is exactly 2.0 and the device permits execution of untrusted code, allowing a local attacker to trigger resource exhaustion.
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-provided security update for CVE-2021-22461. Until patched, monitor device behavior for unusual process terminations and restrict untrusted application execution. The vulnerability requires local code execution, so mitigating vector includes ensuring device integrity and avoiding execution of untrusted code.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-22461 — 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-2021-22461 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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