dbcve.org
HarmonyosOperating system · Huawei

CVE-2021-22478

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-02-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.0 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
The interface of a certain HarmonyOS module has a UAF vulnerability. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may lead to information leakage.

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

A Use-After-Free (UAF) vulnerability exists in the interface of a HarmonyOS module. The memory safety issue allows an attacker to potentially access freed memory, leading to information leakage.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied security patch for the affected HarmonyOS module; until then, limit exposure by restricting untrusted input to module interfaces.

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
HarmonyosOperating system
Affected:< 2.0

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

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

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

  1. Identify the HarmonyOS version
    Check the system settings or use 'grep' command on /etc/version or 'getprop' command to retrieve the HarmonyOS version number
    Affected if The installed version is any version below 2.0 (e.g., 1.x, 1.0.x, etc.)
  2. Confirm the module interface exposure
    Review the system configuration or logs to determine which HarmonyOS module interfaces are exposed or accessible to external input
    Affected if The vulnerable module interface is accessible to untrusted input or external callers
  3. Identify active module interfaces
    Use system diagnostic tools or review application manifests to enumerate which HarmonyOS module interfaces are currently enabled and accepting requests
    Affected if An interface to the affected HarmonyOS module is actively enabled and exposed
  4. Check for memory safety indicators
    Review system logs, crash dumps, or memory dumps for any Use-After-Free error messages, double-free errors, or memory corruption indicators related to module interfaces
    Affected if Any UAF or memory corruption events are logged for the HarmonyOS module interface

A system is affected if it runs any HarmonyOS version below 2.0 and has the vulnerable module interface accessible to untrusted input.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2.0 or later
Fixed in 2.0
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied security patch for the affected HarmonyOS module; until then, limit exposure by restricting untrusted input to module interfaces.

Fix this in Harmonyos Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation10.0 h
  • Testing5.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
21.0 hours of engineering $3,690
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,904.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2021-22478 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data