OpenharmonyOperating system · Openatom

CVE-2025-20011

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-03-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 5.0.2 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 v5.0.2 and prior versions allow a local attacker case DOS through missing release of memory.

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 v5.0.2 and prior versions contain a memory leak vulnerability where memory is not properly released during certain operations. A local attacker can exploit this to cause a Denial of Service by exhausting available memory resources through repeated triggering of the unaudited code path.

MitigationUpdate to a version beyond v5.0.2 if available, or identify and patch the code path where memory allocation occurs without corresponding deallocation to prevent resource exhaustion.

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:>= 4.1, <= 5.0.2

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
None
Availability
High

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

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

  1. Check OpenHarmony version
    Locate the system version information - typically found in system settings, about device, or by running 'getprop ro.build.version.release' or checking /etc/version.ini. Compare the installed version against the affected range: >= 4.1 AND <= 5.0.2
    Affected if The installed version falls within 4.1 through 5.0.2 inclusive
  2. Identify the specific product/SDK build
    Determine the exact OpenHarmony SDK or distribution build number - check /system/etc/ohos.version or run 'bm dump -a' to list bundle manager information. Confirm it is an Openatom Openharmony build
    Affected if The build is confirmed as Openatom Openharmony between versions 4.1 and 5.0.2
  3. Monitor for memory leak symptoms
    Observe system memory usage over time using 'meminfo' or similar tools. Look for abnormal memory growth that does not return to baseline after repeated operations. Document which applications or services are running when memory consumption increases
    Affected if Memory usage grows progressively without release during normal or repeated operations, indicating potential leak
  4. Check for memory allocation without deallocation patterns
    If source code access is available, audit code paths involving memory allocation (malloc/new) that lack corresponding free/delete calls, particularly in code added or modified between v4.1 and v5.0.2. Focus on code triggered by local operations that could be repeatedly invoked
    Affected if Code paths exist where memory is allocated during operations without being freed, and these paths are accessible to local attackers

You are affected if your OpenHarmony version is between 4.1 and 5.0.2 inclusive and you can reproduce memory growth during operations that trigger the unaudited code path.

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 5.0.2
Interim mitigation

Update to a version beyond v5.0.2 if available, or identify and patch the code path where memory allocation occurs without corresponding deallocation to prevent resource exhaustion.

Fix this in Openharmony Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
25.0 hours of engineering $4,400
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,040.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-20011 — 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-2025-20011 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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.

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