CVE-2023-39399
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 · uneditedParameter verification vulnerability in the installd module. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may cause sandbox files to be read and written without authorization.
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 parameter verification vulnerability exists in the installd module that allows unauthorized read and write access to sandbox files. This authorization bypass occurs due to insufficient validation of parameters, potentially allowing a malicious actor to manipulate the installd service to access protected file system locations.
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= 11.0.1= 12.0.0= 12.0.1= 13.0.0= 2.0.0= 2.0.1= 2.1.0= 3.0.0= 3.1.0CVSS 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 your Huawei EMUI or HarmonyOS versionGo to Settings > About Phone and locate the version number (e.g., EMUI 12.0.1 or HarmonyOS 3.0.0)Affected if Your version matches 11.0.1, 12.0.0, 12.0.1, or 13.0.0 for EMUI, or 2.0.0, 2.1.0, 3.0.0, or 3.1.0 for HarmonyOS
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Confirm the installd service is present on your deviceCheck system logs or use a diagnostic tool to verify the installd daemon is running (log entries containing 'installd' indicate the service exists)Affected if The installd service is active on your device
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Determine if third-party app installation or system modifications are permittedReview device settings under Settings > Security & Privacy > Install unknown apps or Settings > Apps > Special access > Install unknown appsAffected if Unknown app sources are enabled, allowing apps outside the official store to be installed
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Verify sandboxed storage access permissionsCheck if any installed application has been granted broad storage permissions that could interact with the installd module for sandbox file operationsAffected if Apps have broad storage or root-level access permissions enabled
You are affected if your device runs EMUI 11.0.1, 12.0.0, 12.0.1, or 13.0.0, or HarmonyOS 2.0.0, 2.0.1, 2.1.0, 3.0.0, or 3.1.0, and the installd service is present and accessible for sandbox 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 dataApply available vendor patches for the installd module to enforce proper parameter validation and authorization checks. If no patch is available, implement input validation bounds checking and ensure sandbox file access requires appropriate authorization tokens.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,888.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-39399 — 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-2023-39399 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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