CVE-2021-37134
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 · uneditedLocation-related APIs exists a Race Condition vulnerability.Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may use Higher Permissions for invoking the interface of location-related components.
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 race condition vulnerability exists in location-related APIs where an attacker can exploit a Time-of-Check-Time-of-Use (TOCTOU) gap between permission verification and API invocation. This allows privilege escalation by accessing location-related component interfaces with elevated permissions that the attacker should not possess.
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
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/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.
-
Check HarmonyOS versionRetrieve the installed HarmonyOS version from the device settings or via system API (Settings.System.getString for HarmonyOS version)Affected if Version is below 2.0 (any version < 2.0)
-
Identify location API usageReview application code or system services that import or call location-related classes (such as LocationManager, LocationProxy, or geo: URI handlers in HarmonyOS)Affected if Location APIs are being invoked in the environment
-
Verify permission check mechanismExamine the application or service code that performs location permission checks before calling location APIs. Look for any gap between PermissionManager.verifyPermission() or similar calls and the actual location API invocationAffected if Permission checks are performed separately from API calls without atomic synchronization
-
Check for concurrent location requestsMonitor or audit code paths where multiple threads or processes can trigger location API calls simultaneously around the same time as permission state changesAffected if Multiple concurrent location requests can be triggered in quick succession
-
Review location component accessibilityInspect whether location-related components (Ability or Service components handling location intents) are exposed or accessible to other applicationsAffected if Location components can be accessed by other applications or services without proper permission state validation at invocation time
The environment is affected if HarmonyOS version is below 2.0 AND location-related APIs are being used, particularly in scenarios where permission checks and API calls are not performed atomically.
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.
dbcve · scoped2.0
Implement proper synchronization mechanisms (locks, atomic operations) around permission checks and location API calls to eliminate the race window, and validate permissions immediately before use rather than relying on cached or previously checked states.
HarmonyOS 2.0 or later
- Upgrade the HarmonyOS device or application to version 2.0 or later to remediate the race condition vulnerability in location-related APIs
- Verify that the upgrade completes successfully and location services function correctly after the update
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,448.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-37134 — 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-2021-37134 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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