CVE-2025-23420
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 · uneditedin OpenHarmony v5.0.2 and prior versions allow a local attacker arbitrary code execution in pre-installed apps through out-of-bounds write. This vulnerability can be exploited only in restricted scenarios.
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 confidenceAn out-of-bounds write vulnerability in OpenHarmony v5.0.2 and prior versions allows a local attacker to achieve arbitrary code execution within pre-installed applications by exploiting memory corruption. The vulnerability requires specific restricted conditions for exploitation, as indicated by the limited attack surface despite the high CVSS score of 7.8.
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>= 4.1.0, <= 5.0.2CVSS 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
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify OpenHarmony versionCheck the system build information or version settings on the device. On OpenHarmony devices, this is typically found in Settings > About Device > Version, or via shell command 'getprop ro.build.version.harmonyos' if developer access is available.Affected if The reported version is between 4.1.0 and 5.0.2 inclusive.
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Confirm vulnerable version rangeCompare the installed version against the affected range: OpenHarmony versions 4.1.0 through 5.0.2 are vulnerable.Affected if The installed version falls within or matches the range 4.1.0 to 5.0.2.
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Identify pre-installed applicationsExamine the list of applications installed on the device. Pre-installed applications are typically bundled in the system partition under /system/apps or /preinstall. Check which applications were shipped with the system image versus downloaded from app stores.Affected if Pre-installed applications exist on the device (this is the typical default configuration for OpenHarmony devices).
A device is affected if it runs OpenHarmony version 4.1.0 through 5.0.2 and has pre-installed applications present, as the vulnerability resides in the pre-installed application components.
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 security updates for OpenHarmony to patch the out-of-bounds write vulnerability; if no patch is available, consider restricting or removing vulnerable pre-installed applications until a fix is released.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA6.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $11,776.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-23420 — 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-2025-23420 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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