dbcve.org
HarmonyosOperating system · Huawei

CVE-2025-53179

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-07-07
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
Null pointer dereference vulnerability in the PDF preview module Impact: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may affect function stability.

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

A null pointer dereference vulnerability exists in the PDF preview module. This type of flaw occurs when the code attempts to access memory through a pointer that has not been initialized or has been set to NULL, typically due to missing validation checks. Successful exploitation can cause the application to crash, leading to denial of service and instability.

MitigationImplement proper null pointer validation checks in the PDF preview module before dereferencing any pointers. Validate all inputs and ensure objects are properly initialized before use. Monitor for vendor patches and apply them promptly.

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
HarmonyosOperating system
Affected:= 5.0.1= 5.1.0

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 HarmonyOS version installed
    Navigate to Settings > About Phone > Version on the HarmonyOS device, or run 'adb shell getprop ro.build.version.harmonyos' via Android Debug Bridge
    Affected if The displayed version is 5.0.1 or 5.1.0 exactly
  2. Identify if PDF preview module is accessible
    Open the native File Manager app or an email application that uses the system PDF preview handler, then attempt to preview any PDF file
    Affected if PDF files can be opened and the preview feature loads the PDF preview module
  3. Verify PDF preview functionality is in use
    Attempt to open a PDF attachment in the email app or select a PDF from the file manager to trigger the preview
    Affected if The PDF preview module processes the file, which would exercise the vulnerable code path

A user is affected if their HarmonyOS device runs version 5.0.1 or 5.1.0 AND they use the PDF preview feature to open PDF files.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement proper null pointer validation checks in the PDF preview module before dereferencing any pointers. Validate all inputs and ensure objects are properly initialized before use. Monitor for vendor patches and apply them promptly.

Fix this in Harmonyos Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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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-2025-53179 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