OpenharmonyApplication

CVE-2022-38081

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-09-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.1.2 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
OpenHarmony-v3.1.2 and prior versions have a permission bypass vulnerability. LAN attackers can bypass the distributed permission control.To take advantage of this weakness, attackers need another vulnerability to obtain system.

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

OpenHarmony versions v3.1.2 and prior contain a permission bypass vulnerability in the distributed permission control mechanism. LAN-based attackers can exploit this weakness to circumvent permission checks across distributed devices. Successful exploitation requires chaining with another vulnerability to achieve full system compromise.

MitigationUpgrade OpenHarmony to a version beyond v3.1.2 that addresses this permission bypass. Additionally, implement network segmentation to restrict LAN attackers from accessing the distributed device ecosystem.

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
OpenharmonyApplication
Affected:>= 3.1, <= 3.1.2

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
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

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

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

  1. Identify OpenHarmony version
    Check the system version of your OpenHarmony installation to confirm it falls within the affected range (v3.1 through v3.1.2). Use the system's version reporting mechanism or check /etc/version if accessible.
    Affected if The installed version is between v3.1 and v3.1.2 inclusive
  2. Determine if distributed permission control is in use
    Verify whether the distributed permission control mechanism is enabled or configured in your environment. This feature allows permission propagation across devices on the same network.
    Affected if Distributed permission control is enabled or configured
  3. Assess LAN exposure
    Evaluate network accessibility of devices running OpenHarmony. Check if the distributed device ecosystem is reachable from untrusted LAN segments or external networks.
    Affected if Devices are accessible from LAN segments that are not fully trusted or are exposed to untrusted networks

You are affected if your OpenHarmony version is between v3.1 and v3.1.2 and the distributed permission control feature is in use within an accessible network environment.

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 a release after 3.1.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade OpenHarmony to a version beyond v3.1.2 that addresses this permission bypass. Additionally, implement network segmentation to restrict LAN attackers from accessing the distributed device ecosystem.

Fix this in Openharmony Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-38081 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-38081 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