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OpenharmonyOperating system · Openatom

CVE-2023-42774

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-11-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.2.2 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
in OpenHarmony v3.2.2 and prior versions allow a local attacker get confidential information through incorrect default permissions.

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 v3.2.2 and prior versions contain incorrect default permissions that allow a local authenticated attacker to access confidential information. This is a permissions misconfiguration vulnerability where system files, directories, or resources are provisioned with overly permissive access controls, enabling unauthorized disclosure of sensitive data to a local user.

MitigationReview and harden default file system permissions, service configurations, and access control lists in OpenHarmony installations to ensure least-privilege principles. Restrict permissions on sensitive files and directories to only authorized users or roles.

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
OpenharmonyOperating system
Affected:<= 3.2.2

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
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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
    Run 'getprop ro.build.version.harmony' or check '/etc/version.xml' to retrieve the installed OpenHarmony version
    Affected if Version is 3.2.2 or any version prior to 3.2.2
  2. Review file permissions on sensitive directories
    Use 'ls -la' to inspect permissions on directories such as /data, /system, /etc, and /storage. Check for world-readable (rwxr-xr-x) or world-writable permissions
    Affected if Sensitive directories grant read or write access to 'other' users or groups beyond the intended owner or system group
  3. Inspect configuration files for permissive access
    Examine permission-related configuration files in /etc/ and /system/etc/ for entries that set permissions to '0777' or '0666' on sensitive files or directories
    Affected if Configuration files define overly permissive access controls (such as mode 777 or 666) on files containing or protecting sensitive data
  4. Check for unauthorized access to protected files
    Use 'ls -la' on critical system files in /data/, /sdcard/, or application data directories. Verify that files containing user data, credentials, or keys are not readable by all users
    Affected if Protected files or directories are readable or writable by any local user rather than restricted to specific users or system UID only
  5. Verify SELinux or AppArmor policy enforcement
    Run 'getenforce' or check SELinux status via '/sys/fs/selinux/enforce' to confirm security policies are enforcing restrictions on file access
    Affected if SELinux or equivalent MAC framework is disabled or set to permissive mode, allowing bypass of standard permission checks

A user is affected if they are running OpenHarmony version 3.2.2 or earlier and sensitive system files or directories have permissions that grant access to unauthenticated local users beyond the intended owner or system group.

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 3.2.2
Interim mitigation

Review and harden default file system permissions, service configurations, and access control lists in OpenHarmony installations to ensure least-privilege principles. Restrict permissions on sensitive files and directories to only authorized users or roles.

Fix this in Openharmony Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
19.0 hours of engineering $3,380
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,408.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2023-42774 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