CVE-2021-39982
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 · uneditedPhone Manager application has a Improper Privilege Management vulnerability.Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may read and write arbitrary files by tampering with Phone Manager notifications.
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 confidenceThe Phone Manager application contains an Improper Privilege Management vulnerability (CWE-269) that allows authenticated attackers to read and write arbitrary files on the system by tampering with Phone Manager notifications. This indicates the application improperly validates or enforces privilege boundaries when processing notification data, enabling privilege escalation and arbitrary file access.
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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Verify HarmonyOS versionCheck the installed HarmonyOS version on the device. On Huawei devices, this is typically found in Settings > About Phone > Version, or via 'getprop ro.build.version.harmonyos' command in ADB/shell.Affected if The device runs HarmonyOS version 2.0 exactly (version = 2.0)
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Confirm Phone Manager application presenceCheck if the Phone Manager (com.huawei.systemmanager or similar package) application is installed on the HarmonyOS 2.0 device. This can be verified via package manager: 'pm list packages | grep systemmanager' or through device management interfaces.Affected if Phone Manager application is installed on a HarmonyOS 2.0 system
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Review notification processing configurationInspect the notification handling configuration for the Phone Manager application. Check for any configuration files or settings related to notification processing, typically found in /data/system/notification_policy.xml or equivalent system notification policies.Affected if Notification handling for Phone Manager allows external tampering or lacks proper privilege validation
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Check file operation permissionsExamine the file system permissions granted to the Phone Manager application. Use 'dumpsys package <package_name>' to inspect the permissions, particularly any file read/write capabilities granted beyond what is necessary.Affected if Phone Manager possesses unnecessary file system write permissions or operates with elevated privileges that can be exploited via notification tampering
A device is affected if it runs HarmonyOS version 2.0 with the Phone Manager application, where notification processing lacks proper privilege validation allowing authenticated attackers to perform arbitrary file operations.
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 dataImplement proper privilege validation and secure notification handling mechanisms. Ensure that all file operations enforce appropriate authorization checks regardless of how the request is initiated (including through notification tampering). Apply principle of least privilege to the notification processing subsystem.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation12.0 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-2021-39982 — 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-2021-39982 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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