CVE-2021-37087
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 a Path Traversal vulnerability in Huawei Smartphone.Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may lead to attackers can create arbitrary file.
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 path traversal vulnerability in Huawei smartphones allows attackers to manipulate file paths using '..' sequences to create or write arbitrary files outside the intended directory. This is a file-write path traversal that could allow attackers to place malicious files on the device filesystem.
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
- 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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Identify HarmonyOS versionCheck the device settings: go to Settings > About Phone > Version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.harmonyos' via ADB shellAffected if The reported HarmonyOS version is below 2.0 (e.g., 1.x, 1.0.x, 1.5.x)
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Confirm device is a Huawei smartphoneVerify the device manufacturer is Huawei and the operating system is Huawei HarmonyOS, not Android or other OS variantsAffected if The device runs Huawei HarmonyOS as its primary OS
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Identify file management componentsReview installed applications and system services that handle file operations, particularly any file creation or writing functionality accessible via file path parametersAffected if A file management or file handling component that accepts user-controllable path parameters is present and enabled
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Check for exposed file operation interfacesExamine if any applications expose file writing capabilities through IPC, intents, or APIs that accept file path input without proper validationAffected if File write operations are accessible through interfaces that accept path parameters without sanitizing '..' sequences
The environment is affected if the device runs Huawei HarmonyOS version below 2.0 and contains a file handling component that processes file paths with user-controlled input.
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 data2.0
Implement strict input validation on file path parameters, normalize and validate all file paths against an allowlist, use sandboxed file operations, and ensure the application rejects paths containing '..' or absolute path indicators.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-37087 — 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-2021-37087 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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